


Goddess of Rock

by FireflySummerwynd



Category: Poison (US Band)
Genre: Dating, F/M, Glam Metal, Reality TV, hair metal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:40:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21889048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySummerwynd/pseuds/FireflySummerwynd
Relationships: Bobby Dall/Blaze Ó Floinn
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

“Ya must be outta your ever-loving mind!”

Forty-three-Year-old Bobby Dall looked down at the handset of his house phone, which lay on the counter in front of him, in utter shock. The voice on the other End, an executive producer with the popular TV channel VH1, had just managed to completely blow his mind with what it’d told him. He’d been through and thought a lotta different things over the course of his Life, but he never woulda imagined something like what he’d just heard–which honestly had him wanting to go check his drawers for skid marks.

_“Nah, not outta my mind, Bobby,”_ the guy–whose name he now couldn’t remember–laughed. _“Just passing on what my boss came up with outta nowhere.”_

“But why pick me?” he asked, now starting to come back to his senses. “I mean, it’s not like I front my band–in fact, I prefer staying outta the spotlight outside said band.”

_“I guess ’cuz of that very reason,”_ came the response. _“You’re so Mysterious to the majority of folks, and being the only brunette in Poison only addsta that effect. No doubt the public wantsta know more aboutcha, even though what they could learn from such a show might very well be lies.”_

“I’m too honest for that kinda shit,” Bobby snorted as he rolled his eyes. “What they see’s what they’ll get.”

_“So, you’re agreeing to do it, then?”_ he was asked.

“Fuck, I might as well,” the bassist answered on a sigh. “I’m just gonna make it clear right now that we’re not doing this anywhere near my home, and my kids aren’t to be involved in the slightest beyond me disclosing that I’ma dad on camera.”

_“Fair enough, especially if they’re minors and you’re their custodial parent.”_

He was told in no uncertain terms that the producer needed to go talk to his boss to hammer out more of a game-plan before he could really hammer out things with him. He’d be getting a call back at some point to talk about doing this show, the premise behind it, what it’d be called, etc. in the near Future. For now, there wasn’t really much he could do, and therefore not much they needed from him.

Ending the call that’d shocked him utterly shitless when he answered it, Bobby heaved another sigh as he set the handset back on its charger base. He wasn’t quite sure what the hell he’d just gotten himself into, or if it was the best thing for any aspect of his Life, especially his kids. He definitely didn’t know that the one band mate he’d a helluva blow-out with just a couple weeks ago had been offered an identical shot to do such a show. But then again, when he sat and thought about it, maybe this was about to be the best thing he’d ever had–maybe this was his chance at finding the kinda Love that could cross Time and Space.


	2. One

At the mansion that’d eventually been rented in Encino, California–just to the Northwest of Bel Air–Bobby once again asked himself just what he’d signed up for. Since he’d moved back to his home State of Florida in 1989, he’d flown out West three or four Days ago, even though none of the contestants’d be here for nearly a week. Many of them were from various parts of the country, meaning he wouldn’t be the only jet-lagged one, but he still wanted a lil more Time to adjust.

In the few Days since his arrival, the bassist’d quickly readjusted to the So Cal Life he’d left behind nearly two decades ago. That included running on Pacific Time, and therefore having to remember to call his kids a bit earlier since they were three hours ahead of him. Even in the midst of all the Chaos no doubt about to ensue, he wasn’t gonna be an absent daddy and let them run amok three thousand miles away.

On his seventh Morn on the West Coast, the production crew arrived at the house they were gonna be filming in for the next two months or so. Bobby’d already been there, having worked out a personal arrangement with its owner to do just that so he could recover from the jet-lag in Peace. Unbelievably, said owner was an old friend from outside his band, and he’d readily agreed to let him stay there as long as he needed to. He just made it clear that if the production company didn’t, he’d better make sure _he_ bought insurance that’d cover the place burning to the ground and then some, or he wouldn’t have an ass left to sue. The bassist was more than agreeable to such terms, whether they were friends or not–he knew things were about to get beyond crazy.

The girls who’d be vying for his attention and fighting to win his heart started to arrive one-by-one, each getting dropped off by taxis. Before he knew it, he’d come to an End total of twenty-five women who seemed to range from barely eighteen up to his own age, give or take. He couldn’t help rolling his eyes at some of their appearances, which openly screamed they were there for the fame, the partying, and maybe for sex. No one was gonna convince him to crawl into bed with them unless they wound up being his chosen winner at the End of this Madness a couple months from now.

“Ya ready to get this show on the road?” the executive producer who’d called him a month ago asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” he answered, rolling his neck and shoulders. “Otherwise, I’ll be paying a boat-load for backing outta the contract early.”

“It’s not quite as bad as it seems,” came the chuckled response of Corey–he thought. “It’s no doubt gonna get wild and crazy, if it goes anything like _Flavor of Love_ has, but you’re pretty used to that.”

“Maybe when I’m on tour, but not when my feet’re planted firmly on solid ground,” Bobby told him.

“Well, go ahead and head to wherever you’ve your bike stashed,” he said. “I’ma work with the crew to get the girls lined up so we can shoot the opening scene.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” the bassist agreed with a nod.

“One of the guys is going with ya so we can give ya your cue via radio,” Corey added as he turned to walk away.

“Awesome, the cue to come be ripped to shreds,” he chuckled.

Bobby couldn’t help rolling his eyes like a juvenile once his back was turned and the producer couldn’t see him do it. Just the premise of this show once it was explained to him sounded completely ridiculous, but after giving it some Thought, he’d decided to go through with it. After all, the worst that could possibly happen’d be that he _didn’t_ find someone to spend the rest of his Life with like he hoped.

Down the street at the next intersection, the bassist waited with the crewman sent with him for his cue to head back to the house. His bike sat idling by the curb as it warmed up a bit, considering that it was a bit chilly, even for October in Southern California. As he waited, he couldn’t help raking his fingers through his hair before strapping his helmet on and straddling said machine. He usually wasn’t one to be overcome by Anxiety, but then again, this wasn’t like going onstage–he’d be revealing some pretty personal things as he got these girls to open up about themselves.

A crackle sounded from the crewman’s radio moments after he settled on his bike, and he flashed a thumbs-up as he heard his cue. With the flip of a mental switch, he lifted his bike off its kickstand and kicked it up before moving his boot into position to throw it in gear. Here he was, at the Beginning of some kinda Madness that might win him some lucky girl’s heart, but would no doubt make him look like a fool at the same Time. There was no turning back as he took off, feet hovering over the ground till he picked up enough speed to ride safely.

Standing at the End of the third row so she’d be on his left when the man of the hour rode up, Lyra _Blaze_ Ó Floinn was wondering just what she’d gotten herself into as much as Bobby was. All around her were practically lil girls who thought that every man on the Planet wanted to see everything the second he clapped eyes on her. If not lil girls trying to masquerade as women, then women grown who acted like the lil girls by dressing and otherwise acting like skanks.

On the other End of her row stood her half-sister, Morrígan _Raven_ Ó Dufaigh wore much the same bemused expression as she did. They both thought this Reality dating show they’d wound up on was ridiculous, especially since none of the producers’d tell them who they’d be vying for. All they knew about the man of the hour was that he was a veteran rocker who’d all but given up on Love, but was giving it one last shot.

Blue eyes turning toward her right as she heard a familiar racket, Blaze saw a Harley gliding into the semi-Circle of a driveway that pretty much Dominated the front yard. She couldn’t really make out any features due to both the current distance and the fact that he wore sunglasses, but she could tell this man possessed long, Dark hair. That could bode well since she always seemed to gravitate toward the stereotypical _tall, Dark, and handsome,_ but she supposed that’d only ring true if he held that last adjective, too. At least she was good at keeping her expression schooled into a neutral one so she wouldn’t give away what she was thinking. She might not be named after the Mysterious Goddess of War, Death, Fate, and Sovereignty, but she was still Mysterious like that.

After settling his bike on its kickstand and killing the motor, the man swung a long, shapely leg over it so he could rise to a height of what’d to be six-foot-even. Those gorgeous locks were quickly revealed by pulling off his helmet, which was quickly hung from his handlebars, and shook out so they didn’t appear quite as tangled. It was then that he reached up to pull off the shades still hiding his eyes, and the moment they were revealed, she felt her breath literally catch in her throat. She wouldn’t have expected _this_ to be the man they were competing to win the Love of for the rest of her Lifetime, so she was definitely surprised.

“Be still, my poor heart,” she heard from relatively close.

Looking to her left, she saw Raven wearing a Dreamy look and gently fanning her face, clearly mocking being on the verge of fainting.

“What?” her younger sister asked, that expression turning to mischievous in a split second. “So he’s hot–fuckin’ bite me.”

“I’d rather not,” Blaze drawled, rolling her eyes as she resisted calling her _lil sister_ like she normally did.

“Ya all right up there, miss?”

Returning their attention to in front of them, they saw the man of the hour looking up at the Darker of them.

“Oh, I’m fine,” she laughed, grinning as she waved off his concern. “I can be a bit dramatic like that sometimes, but what can I say? I know and can appreciate Beauty whenever I see it, no matter who possesses it.”

The older of the pair bit back a snicker as his face slowly turned almost the same shade of red as her hair.

“Well, ladies, before we get too far into the flirting, let’s start with introductions.” The man who’d walked up beside Bobby wore a neutral expression, but there was an amused twinkle to his blue eyes.

It didn’t take but two seconds for Blaze and Raven both to figure out he was some form of military man, although they couldn’t be exactly sure of which branch without him saying so aloud.

“My name’s Big John–I’m a close friend of not only Bobby, but his entire band,” the hard-ass gym-rat said. “I’ve worked with them on and off and head of security for several Years, but we go far deeper than that–we’re friends, co-workers, brothers, and so much more. Therefore, Bobby’s best interests’re _my_ best interests–got it?”

While no one actually said _yes_ or any variant, every one of the twenty-five feminine heads nodded.

“That being said, without further ado…”

“I’m sure many of ya recognize me–others, not so much,” the veteran rocker chuckled. “For those who don’t, I’m Bobby Dall, bassist and slave-driver of Poison.”

The women he didn’t even realize were sisters couldn’t help a snicker, considering they’d grown up on his Music and knew exactly who he was.

“We’re no doubt gonna get to know each other more as Time passes, and I can’t wait to find out if going through with this was the right choice or not,” the bassist continued. “A few things about myself to start us off–I love to cook, go skiing, and just keep to myself when I’m not doing something with Poison.”

“Which means, no one goes in his private Space here without explicit permission, or you’ll find yourselves eliminated,” Big John said with a _don’t-fuck-with-me_ tone to his voice.

“That also goes for any personal belongings of mine,” he told the girls. “I’ve several pieces of my gear here, and I don’t want anyone touching it without permission and me being present. Just ’cuz a handful of ya might give it the Reverence and Respect it deserves doesn’t mean that _all_ of ya will, so I’m assuming that none of you’ll do that till I get to know everyone better.”

Nobody could really deny that he’d a point, and while they didn’t like being assumed to be Destructive, heartless lil bitches, they could at least give him kudos for being fair. It was better to distrust _everyone_ with the exception of this Big John when it came to his personal belongings than to only trust one or two right from the get-go and be proven to’ve misplaced his Trust. Besides, even if the girls _were_ musicians in their own right, they’d no business touching his shit without him having permitted it beforehand.

Everyone soon migrated into the house behind them and started picking their personal Spaces that they’d be using for the duration of their stay. Well, everyone with the exception of the first five girls to get eliminated, based on the ones the hard-ass gym-rat saw _didn’t_ catch his friend’s attention. They were quickly informed that they weren’t being granted backstage access and that their tours Ended there, to keep with the theme of the show.

In one of the bedrooms that just happened to be right next to the master suite, Blaze and Raven claimed their Space and started to unpack only a few of their belongings. While the latter was putting their stuff in the dresser that was in the room, the former was taking a look at the bathroom door. Having discovered that it was actually an oddball Jack-and-Jill bath, she was trying to figure out a way to render this particular door useless without causing damage to the house. Neither of them wanted Bobby or Big John having an access to invade their Space where the cameras couldn’t catch them, which could result in a ton of problems no doubt none of them’d any Wish to have to deal with.

The whole Time they were stowing their things and disabling that one bathroom door, the sisters made use of some Knowledge no one else knew they possessed. In solid Gaelic, they talked about how they were gonna watch each others’ backs, even if it ultimately gave them away, while giving this competition an honest shot. Raven wasn’t gonna try quite as hard as her big sister since it was Bobby’s band mate, Rikki, she’d have gone after, but she still didn’t wanna waste her Time. It was Blaze who’d really be trying to win the brunette man’s heart, and even then, she was determined not to go outta her way to do it.


	3. Two

While the girls who were gonna be competing for his Love and Affection were getting settled, Bobby disappeared into the master suite with his friend and head of security. Despite knowing that Big John’d his back and best interests at heart, he was still a bit unsure of going through with this Insanity. Knowing a breach of contract with VH1 could get him in a lotta trouble wasn’t even really enough to make him wanna truly do this, but only his friend could tell.

“Ya sure ya wanna go through with this?” the former Marine most’d think was completely heartless asked as he joined him on the edge of the bed. “I’m sure with a good enough attorney, ya can get outta this contract while you’re still ahead.”

“Yeah, I’m sure, Big John,” he answered with a halfhearted smile. “I don’t want the headache of such legal proceedings, especially after my divorce a few Years ago.”

“Yeah, that shit with Mishy and the custody battle was nutty enough, from what you’ve told me,” Big John chuckled. “Part of me Wishes I’d been there when she tried to knock your Lights out since I’d have been able to restrain her till the cops got there.”

“Hey, Zach did well enough since Rikki got him into _jiu jitsu_ when he was younger,” the bassist laughed. “He managed to get her off me without hurting either of them, so it worked out well enough.”

“I guess so,” his friend agreed. “Let’s just hope this Madness we’ve gotten ourselves into works out half as well by the Time it’s all said and done.”

“Amen, brother,” Bobby said Sagely as he nodded.

Having given the girls what they thought was plenty of Time to get at least somewhat settled and changed, if they so desired, the pair of men headed out to the main living area. Big John rounded all twenty remaining girls up so they were assembled in what could be called a great or living room, where the bassist waited patiently. It was rare he lost his Patience with anyone, even his kids, but once he did–well, to say that such an occurrence wasn’t pretty was a major understatement.

Few knew it, but he’d actually been the one to get band mate Bret Michaels started on his Love of photography Years ago. There was just something about catching a still-shot of something he’d prolly never see again that Bobby loved, and he could often catch aspects others couldn’t. He’d caught plenty of shots of his ex-wife when she’d thought she was far from beautiful that proved her to be anything but, especially during pregnancy.

The first activity of the Day involved him starting to get to know the girls a bit more as he put them through a short photo shoot. He wanted to know their styles, and not just when it came to clothing and jewelry, as much as he wanted to know their minds, hearts, and Souls. What he captured in his photos could reveal a lot more than one might think at first glance, and he was determined to capture what he could. That was what made him get the girls lined up to take their turns in front of his lens, some looking more nervous than others while a few still just looked flat-out bored.

“Aw, c’mon, sugar–gimme a smile,” Bobby chuckled. He was currently working with the lone ginger of the group that’d caught his eye the second he rolled up on his bike out front.

“I’ll prolly look like the devil incarnate, if I do that,” she shot back, her eyes twinkling. “That, or look like I’m up to absolutely no good and get myself canned before the fun can really Begin.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being up to no good sometimes,” the bassist told her with a grin. “It can often lead to nothin’ but a good Time.”

“I see whatcha did there,” the young woman–Blaze, he thought her name was–laughed.

“See, _that’s_ the kinda smile I wanna see,” he told her as he snapped off a few shots.

“I don’t even have to ask whatcha said to get her to smile.”

Looking up after snapping off his last shot of the ginger, he saw the brunette whose eyes’d reeled him in when he pulled up ready to take her turn. “And whyddaya say that?”

“Let’s just say late Nights at the hotel for the last few Days taught me a lot about her,” she answered, smirking as she moved in front of his backdrop. “She won’t reveal it easily, but she’s a dirtier mind than she lets on.”

_“Ahhhh,_ I see,” Bobby chuckled before diving into her turn.

It didn’t take long for him to finish up with this girl–Raven, she told him to call her–and move on to the final three girls. There were some who just didn’t strike him quite right, now that he was close enough to really get a read on them, and he knew he was gonna have to mention it to Big John later. Girls like those who made his skin crawl didn’t have any business remaining on the show for more than a few Days at best. The ginger mighta been joking about seeming like she was up to no good, but he’d a feeling those making his skin crawl just at the sight of them really weren’t up to anything good.

After finishing up the mini shoot, the bassist headed back to the master suite to quickly take care of something else for the show. Once he picked the best shot of each girl, he was gonna make what looked like a backstage pass outta them to use during eliminations. Each girl’d be given her _backstage pass_ as it were, and if any _didn’t_ get one, that’d denote their having been eliminated from the competition.

While Bobby was busy with that mini project, the former Marine was keeping an eye on the girls as the majority of them started partying early. They’d both known that many of the contestants’d be here for the five minutes in the limelight, others simply to have an excuse to get sloppy drunk. However, he was pleased to see that the pair his friend seemed most attracted to were actually the only ones who _didn’t_ partake once the alcohol started flowing like a River through the great room. It wasn’t much, but it gave him some Hope that maybe–just maybe–his friend would find a halfway decent girl by the Time this Madness Ended in a couple months’ Time. Then again, while he might not find Love, he might actually find a woman he could be friends with for Years to come.

On the other side of the great room, Blaze and Raven kept to themselves as they watched the drunken Madness unfold and rolled their eyes. Even the women that appeared to be more like forty-something were drinking like Fish, even though they were well old enough to know better. If there was one thing the ginger sister knew without a doubt, it was that the bassist’d quit drinking close to a decade ago–no matter how wild and crazy a tour got, he wasn’t gonna wanna spend his free Time with a drunk.

“Ya all right, ladies?”

Looking up, they saw Big John’d come over to them, but was still turned so he could watch the rest of the girls outta the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, we’re fine, Big John,” Raven answered, nodding. “Just choosing to stay sober since we know there’s better things to do with ourselves and our Time.”

“Not to mention alcoholism runs in our family,” Blaze muttered, but not quite soft enough to avoid him hearing her.

“Wait, what–alcoholism runs in your family?” he asked, a brow cocked.

“Shit, I didn’t think ya heard that,” the ginger said, her face turning a bit pink.

“Looks like the Cat’s outta the bag, sis–with him, at least,” her companion sighed, then looked up at him. “Don’t tell Bobby so he won’t think we’re working together to get the others eliminated, but we’re half-sisters.”

“Same mom, different dads,” Blaze elaborated when he looked curious. “I’m more Irish while she’s more Scotch, hence our coloring.”

“So I’m assuming you’re not gonna try to get the others eliminated?” Big John asked curiously.

“Not Intentionally, no,” she answered. “We Intend to give this shit an honest shot and get eliminated, if that’s what he chooses to do, just as much as at least a few of the others.”

“Even though, personally, I’d rather have Rikki than Bobby,” the brunette giggled. “But we’re still sisters, all the same–we’re not letting this ridiculousness turn us against each other, even if we don’t team up against the others.”

“I guess that’s fair enough,” he acquiesced, looking a bit uncertain. “Still, it’s something that Bobby prolly oughta know.”

“I’ll tell ya what,” the ginger said. “Ya get to tell him, if things take a true sexual turn with one of us.”

“Sounds fair to me,” Raven agreed with a Sagely nod. _“We_ might be open to sharing guys from Time to Time, but that doesn’t mean _he’s_ open to being shared by sisters like that.”

“All right, that makes it even more fair,” the former Marine laughed.

It wasn’t long before the man at the heart of this Insanity emerged from his private quarters, and the party really seemed to ratchet up a few notches. The other girls were all over him like June bugs on a Mater plant, many of them trying to get him to join them in drinking the Night away. He politely refused each Time one of them offered him a drink, even getting up and walking away when a couple got a bit too pushy upon his refusal.

As the Night progressed into the wee hours of the Morn, Bobby found his attention continuously drawn back to the pair who were just chilling across the room. There was something about them, especially the ginger, that he found intriguing–he just couldn’t figure out how to approach them. It was when the pair got up and headed out to the poolside that he saw a chance, and something told him that he’d better take it before he lost it. He might not get another one to have a bit of a one-on-one with these two that didn’t involve sex, and besides, he needed some Air after everything the others’d done so far.

On the back patio, Blaze and Raven both kept well away from the door, almost hiding in the Shadows as they lit a pair of smokes. They didn’t want the other girls bitching about them blowing Smoke in their faces, or how they smelled like ash trays, but this was one thing neither of them were willing to give up. If they were so stupid as to give up their nicotine and caffeine, someone was bound to die in the next couple months–and they could just about guarantee it wouldn’t be them, the bassist, or Big John.

“Needed some Air yourselves, huh, ladies?”

Glancing up after letting their eyes readjust to the Darkness, they saw the man of the hour approaching them almost Silently, despite still wearing his boots.

“Be glad we don’t startle easily,” Blaze chuckled, turning slightly to let out her first drag.

“We’re not exactly the ones ya wanna be caught in a Dark alley with unless we’re on your side,” the brunette said.

“Really–and whyddaya say that?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“Turns out we’re both trained in martial Arts– _jiu jitsu_ for her, _krav maga_ for me,” her companion answered.

“I’m guessing ya started getting to know each other in the hotel before ya headed over here.” It was a statement, not a question, and they both knew it.

“Well, we were the only ones sober, even then,” Raven told him. “We don’t like being around drunks unless we’re drinking, too, but these girls take it way too far.”

“Seriously,” the ginger dead-panned. “I’m amazed any of ’em were sober by this Morn, let alone this afternoon.”

“Yeah, it’s starting to get on even _my_ nerves,” Bobby agreed. “Then again, I _had_ to get dried out about a decade ago, or I was gonna lose far more than I ever wanted to.”

Neither woman was so crass as to ask for an elaboration, but he could still tell that they wanted him to.

“Let’s just say my wife was gonna leave me, if I didn’t sober up for good–not that it really helped since _I_ wound up being the one to leave _her,”_ he revealed.

“Not even gonna ask exactly whatcha mean by that,” the brunette said.

“You’ll tell us of your own accord, if that’s whatcha want, and till then, it’s none of our fuckin’ business,” Blaze agreed.

The bassist couldn’t help a relieved sigh before shooting them a thankful smile as they stubbed out their smokes so they could head back in. He was glad they were curious about his personal Life– _he_ was certainly curious about _theirs,_ after all–but he was even more glad that they weren’t being pushy about it. Letting him open up of his own accord and at his own pace was the best way they could handle him, whether they knew it at the moment or not.

Back in the house, the only sober girls headed off to their room almost as soon as they got through the back door. Every other girl was so sloppy drunk, it was ridiculous, and neither of them wanted to be around these stuck-up bitches masquerading as blue-blooded Ladies. Then again, they weren’t exactly blue-blooded anything, if they were pole-dancing with their pussy completely bared for all to see.

It only took another couple hours for the girls to start passing out from their intoxication, but now the real work Began in earnest. Big John and the bassist were tasked with getting them all to bed, and in positions so that they wouldn’t choke, if they started vomiting in their sleep. That took a while ’cuz while a few only needed a bit of help to stumble off to bed, several were out cold and completely dead-weight. Luckily, both men–not to mention the film crew who jumped in to help them–were more than strong enough to manage this task before they retired for the Night, themselves. Bobby just hoped that he wouldn’t pay for it in the Morn ’cuz of lifting so much weight aggravating an old injury he didn’t really talk about.

With all the girls settled and abed for the Night, the veteran rocker and literal veteran headed off to the master suite so they could rest and recuperate, themselves. It’d been a long, crazy Night for all involved, but none prolly more so than these two–well, outta the sober group, that is. Only the rise of the Sun’d tell them how much crazier things’d be likely to get in the next couple months, but there was one thing the bassist Intended to do pretty quickly. He wanted all forms of alcohol cleared outta the house before the girls woke, and if any were caught with it afterward, they’d face immediate elimination.


	4. Three

The following Morn, Bobby and Big John were some of the first ones up, considering they were used to having to get up early. After all, they were both fathers responsible for getting their kids to school on Time, not to mention had other things they needed to accomplish each Day. In addition to that, they’d a rigorous schedule to follow while on tour, lest anyone get left behind ’cuz they weren’t where they shoulda been at the designated Time.

By the Time the girls were all up, the pair of men’d joined Blaze and Raven for a quick breakfast since they were the only other ones up early. Every single girl with the exception of those two looked hungover as all hell, and the bassist was hard-pressed to bite back a grimace at their appearances. Sure, he’d once looked much the same upon waking every Morn, but he’d given that shit up a long Time ago for the sake his son and now ex-wife. It wasn’t a very pretty look on much of anyone, but these girls somehow managed to make this look worse than Death warmed over a Time or three.

“So, I’ve gotta ask, ladies,” he was saying as the first of the hungover girls walked into the kitchen for coffee. “How the fuck do ya pronounce your surnames?”

Both of the sober, perky women laughed as they sipped their coffee.

“Let’s just stick with the anglicized versions, which’re Flynn and Duffy,” Blaze told him.

“That works for me,” the bassist chuckled as he picked up his own mug. “I’m kinda wondering what they stem from, though.”

“They’re both actually Irish,” the brunette woman explained. “Mine means _Dark_ or _black,_ while hers means _bright red.”_

“Considering your hair Colors, they’re fitting,” Bobby said thoughtfully. “Guess I don’t have to ask if her red comes outta a box, in that case.”

“Oh, naw,” said ginger laughed. “Totally virgin hair since the Day I was born.”

“Kinda Wish I could say the same sometimes,” he told them. “I’ve dyed my hair so much since my teens, I’m amazed I’ve any hair left.”

Even the hungover girls slowly trickling into the kitchen couldn’t help laughing at that comment, albeit softly due to their no doubt throbbing heads. For a man in his early-forties who’d spent much of his Life dyeing his hair, mostly black ’cuz of the image he was portraying, he still had a full head of the stuff. And since he’d always had a ridiculously high hairline, something he’d never been able to hide, he couldn’t really say that it was Beginning to recede with his advancing age.

What surprised him, though, was when Blaze reached over and gently ran her fingers through a couple of the loose tresses as she tucked it behind his ear. He hadn’t even let Mishy get away with that kinda action when they were married, if only ’cuz he was prone to migraines and didn’t like his head being messed with in a physical sense as a result. This gentle touch, though, denoted that while she liked his hair–fried, though it currently was–she respected the fact that he may not want his hair played with. Not only that, but the look she shot him screamed that she wasn’t gonna do such a thing again outta Respect for his personal Space. If there was one thing he was genuinely grateful for, it was a woman who seemed to be as understanding and caring as she did.

After all twenty girls’d woken up and gotten caffeinated, their first challenge of the show was announced once they were all gathered in the great room. In being a typical guy, Bobby wasn’t after a woman for just her mind, heart, and Soul–there’d to be physical attraction and sexual chemistry in there, or he wasn’t gonna stay interested for very long. Certainly, there were ways of testing that without having to get too hands-on, and he’d finally agreed to one of the suggestions made by one of the cameramen.

“All right, ladies–listen up,” Big John said, effectively grabbing everyone’s attention.

All eyes locked onto the two men, their ears wide open in a figurative sense.

“Ladies, we all know that no matter my personality, at the End of the Day, I’m still just a guy,” the bassist started. “That said, there’s gotta be at least _some_ physical attraction and sexual chemistry between us–otherwise, I’ma lose interest pretty quick and move on to the next thing that catches my attention.”

Some of the girls seemed dejected already, and he made a mental note of that as much as that Blaze and Raven rolled their eyes at the absurdity.

“What we’re gonna do is a phone sex competition,” he announced. “Whoever gets the best reaction outta me is gonna be the winner of the first date.”

“But how’re we gonna know who gets that reaction?” a girl he swore introduced herself as Erin asked.

“And cue my turning it over to Dr. Franklin,” Bobby laughed, stepping aside as he waved a hand at a man in a lab coat that he knew was actually an actor just going by a script.

“What we’re gonna do, ladies, is use _this_ to conduct what’s called PPG, or phallometry,” he explained as he held up something. “The penile plethysmograph’s used to measure the amount of blood flow to the penis by way of marking Changes in circumference.”

Each of the women looked intrigued, although one could only tell that Blaze and Raven were by the way their eyes twinkled as they listened.

“Therefore, the machine it’s connected to is gonna be our impartial, unbiased party,” Dr. Franklin told them.

“Means that everybody’s a fair shot, and no one can be determined winner or loser based on whether any of us guys’re partial to them or not,” the bassist said.

All the girls nodded their agreement as they said something to the effect of that being fair enough for them, each one’s gears already whirling. He knew they were gonna be nervous, but he also knew they were already cooking up ways to get in his big head and make him think with the lil one. Even before this challenge started, he could tell that while some parts were gonna be tedious and boring, it was still gonna be a lotta fun.

Once he was settled in the arm chair in the master suite, now hooked up to that penile plethysmograph–as embarrassing as that part was–he told Big John to go get the first girl. She was gonna be put in a separate room from everyone else so she’d the utmost privacy to get as racy and dirty with him as she wanted, but not feel too pressured from having the other girls listening in. On the End table set up in the room she was gonna be taken to was a phone that’d a one-way connection to the one on the End table next to him. As soon as the receiver was picked up on the girl’s End, it’d start ringing on his and they could get started with the challenge.

During each of the first ten calls, Bobby’d an equal reaction between bored outta his mind and mildly interested in what each girl was saying to him. Only a couple outta the first twelve prompted him to cringe and hang up almost immediately, they were so awkward ’cuz the girl didn’t know what she was doing any more than a virgin prolly did. If he coulda, he’d have definitely been getting up and leaving the room, if only for a five minute break to get some Air before they continued–but he wasn’t getting touched to be hooked back up again.

When the phone rang for the thirteenth Time, he almost instantly recognized the voice as belonging to Raven, and he couldn’t help shifting in his seat slightly. If there were two voices that could turn him on with just the word _hello,_ they belonged to her and the ginger who insisted he call her Blaze. That could only mean that things were about to get good, if just greeting him could be an almost instant turn-on, which almost never happened even in his twenties. He was certainly glad to say that he wasn’t disappointed–although he _was_ glad to be alone during this–and that he’d gladly name her as one of his winners. Still, there were seven more calls to get through, and one of them belonged to the ginger he’d his eye on right from the start yesterday.

“Well, hello there,” Bobby said as he answered the final call a short Time later. He was hard-pressed to keep his voice neutral so the girl on the other End wouldn’t be able to tell if he was bored or having a hard Time Controlling himself.

_“Good afternoon, Mr. Dall.”_ His eyes widened as he registered Blaze’s husky voice in his ear. _“Or is there something else you’d rather me call ya–maybe_ Daddy _’cuz you’re a dirty freak?”_

_“Mmm,_ Bobby works well enough,” he told her, a few images already flitting across his mind’s eye.

_“Aww, but what if I wanna call ya_ Daddy?” Blaze asked, barely biting back a snicker as she tried to make it sound like she was pouting.

“Guess I can’t argue with that,” the bassist answered, quite literally biting his tongue on a few suggestions of shit she could do and say to him.

_“Good, ’cuz this baby girl likesta please her Daddy,”_ she said, her tone turning downright sultry. _“She lovesta be a brat with her nipping and sucking, but she takes care of her Daddy every Time.”_

Bobby bit back a groan as he twitched in his PJ britches, her words already Conjuring up images of her doing those things and so much more.

_“She also loves being forced onto her knees to worship him like the God he is,”_ the ginger continued. _“And she’s a filthy cum-slut that likes Daddy to prove how pleased he is by cumming all over her face.”_

Now he was physically incapable of stifling a groan, although he used his free hand to attempt muffling it instead of reaching into his britches like he really wanted to do.

_“Baby Girl knows Daddy’s needy,”_ Blaze teased him. _“And she’ll nip, lick, kiss, and scratch her way to where Daddy needs her the most.”_

The rest of the call was a bit of a blur for him as he got more and more into her dirty talk, which made him realize what a sewer her mouth was–in a good way. By the Time he was finally forced to End the call, he was so hard that it was physically painful for him, and he coulda sworn he heard her laugh as he laid the receiver down in its cradle.

The actual doctor who’d been hired to hook up and run the equipment that was used today was quick, but gentle about getting him unhooked. He still couldn’t help a hiss and a groan, considering he was aroused beyond the point of no Return from that last call. In fact, there was no way he was leaving the master suite till he’d sated himself, or Blaze might find herself pushed up against the nearest wall for that filthy phone call. But he wasn’t about to commit rape just ’cuz she’d teased him better than even his ex-wife’d ever managed, so his only real choice was to go sate himself.

As she exited the room she and all the other girls before her’d been led to, Blaze couldn’t help letting out a cackle that was eerily reminiscent of the Wicked Witch of the West. If there was one thing she knew how to do well, it was use her mouth to bring just about any man to his knees–and not by biting or kissing him. Before they’d even finished explaining the premise of today’s challenge, she’d known damn good and well that she was gonna be the one who came out on top.

The rest of the girls with the exception of Raven looked at her like she’d lost her last marble as she joined them in the great room. Her baby sister knew her well enough to know just what a perv she really was, and therefore just how filthy her mouth could get at Times. But said baby sister’d learned from the best, so while she still needed some practice, no doubt she’d be named one of the winners for the Day.

It took about three hours before Bobby and Big John emerged from the master suite, and the former looked like he’d just woken up. The ginger shot him a knowing smirk, cracking up again when his face almost immediately turned pink–not that it was quite its normal tan hue to Begin with. All she needed to know was that he’d enjoyed her call to the fullest, just like she’d Intended even before she’d picked up that receiver. Judging by the look on his face, she’d say he’d enjoyed it, all right–to the point that he’d actually needed to sate himself after that call, which’d worn him out enough for a nap afterward.

“All right, ladies,” Big John started, which caught the attention of every girl in the room. “We’ve come to our conclusion and decided on the winners, based on the results of the phallometry.”

That made the bassist blush again as he cleared his throat. “The winners of the first date’re Blaze, Raven, and Lacey.”

Lacey, the only other ginger in the group, was the only one to cheer triumphantly while the other two winners just smiled at him.

“I’d suggest getting ready, although it doesn’t have to be anything fancy,” he continued. “It’s not like we’re going out to a five-star restaurant or anything.”

“Works for us,” Blaze said, gesturing between herself and the only brunette winner.

“Just let us know when we’re heading out,” said brunette agreed.

“Whenever we’re all ready,” Bobby answered. “Doesn’t really take me long to get ready for much of anything unless I’m going onstage.”

Nodding, the trio of winners headed off to get ready while the rest of the girls’d to find ways of entertaining themselves for the Night. He looked at his friend, who was staying behind to keep some semblance of Sanity in his absence, and the former Marine nodded with a slight smile. If there was anyone who could keep Control of this crowd, it was him, and well he knew it from the way he ran a tight ship on tour.

Within an hour, Blaze found herself waiting out back with her sister and the man of the hour as Lacey took her sweet Time getting ready. None of them really minded, though, ’cuz if there was one thing she’d already figured out about Bobby, it was that he preferred Natural Beauty. That already gave her and the brunette a leg up on the final winner, who seemed to cake on the make up like she thought she was gonna be in one of Poison’s Music videos. Other than fresh outta bed and/or hungover, she looked like she got into a War with a gothic Crayola box–and like she lost every single Time.

After she was finally ready, the bassist told them that they were heading to the Jim Henson Studios, where they’d be adding some backing vocals to something Poison already had in the works. That gave them a bit of a spoiler since all three were intelligent enough to figure out that they were working on an album of covers, but they still perked up. In fact, on the drive to the studio in question, they were each allowed to pick which song they wanted to contribute to, and he couldn’t help an excited grin.


	5. Four

Upon arriving at the studio, Blaze gave herself a mental peptalk and slap to the face as she prepared herself for what lay ahead. In vying for the Love and Affection of a musician, she’d known that he’d eventually get her into a studio, if only to show her how the process of doing what he loved actually worked. She was still a bit nervous, but not ’cuz she was far from being a musical being– _au contraire,_ she was actually more musical than most’d guess on first glance.

Raven was actually just as musical as her big sister, even if they were equally ignorant as to how the recording process actually worked. Both could sing Circles around Poison frontman Bret Michaels, and they were both extremely talented multi-instrumentalists. They could put poor lead guitarist CC DeVille to shame by playing his own riffs on instruments he couldn’t even Begin to play, if they put their minds to it.

In the studio, they were introduced to the rest of the band, who’d congregated to work on their project while Bobby was filming the first challenge. The lone brunette woman managed to compartmentalize so that her attraction to Rikki wouldn’t show for a couple different reasons. Yeah, she was partial to the drummer more so than his Dark-toned band mate, but she was Intent on giving this show a real and true shot. She also didn’t want the bassist to think she was just using him to get to his friend, ’cuz even if that didn’t get her eliminated, it’d no doubt cause unnecessary bad blood between them.

“So, have ya figured out which ones ya wanna work on, ladies?” Bret asked, being his typical Charming self.

“Personally, I’m kinda thinking _I Never Cry_ for myself,” Raven answered. “I’ve always been more of a Cooper fan than not.”

“Gotta go with _Lil Willy,_ myself,” Lacey said with a dirty grin.

“What about you, sweetheart?” This question was posed by the drummer as he looked at the other ginger.

“Dunno yet, unless y’all’re gonna be redoing old covers,” she answered, shrugging.

“Whyddaya say that?” CC asked curiously, an arm draped over the body of his guitar, which rested on his thigh.

“’Cuz personally, my favorite outta this entire list is _Your Mama Don’t Dance,”_ Blaze chuckled. “It’d be my first pick every Time, but that’s only gonna work if y’all plan to redo it, now ain’t it?”

“She’s a point, guys,” the vocalist agreed, nodding as he noticed the surprised look of his brunette friend and band mate. “What’s up, Bob?”

“First of all, don’t fuckin’ call me that,” he growled. “Ya know I hate it.”

None of the women were immune to giggling, one of his pet peeves now made obvious to them.

“Second of all, I’m kinda surprised Blaze actually likes that particular cover,” Bobby said in an actual response to the question.

“Believe it or not, more of my favorite Poison tunes come from _Open Up_ than they don’t,” the younger ginger laughed.

“Really?” the guitarist asked.

_“Back to the Rocking Horse, Every Rose, Fallen Angel, Good Love, Nothin’ but a Good Time, Tearin’ Down the Walls,_ and _Your Mama Don’t Dance,”_ Blaze answered.

The guys were all surprised, both ’cuz that was damn near the entire album _and_ ’cuz not many fans even knew tunes like _Back to the Rocking Horse_ unless the grew up during the eighties. Since they were all curious and needed some Time to set up a few things, they asked what her favorites off the rest of their studio albums were. In fact, the question was posed to the other two girls since even the trio of blondes wanted to keep things fair as their friend learned more about his dates.

Blaze’s picks from their debut album were _Cry Tough, I Want Action,_ the title song, and _Talk Dirty to Me,_ and the lone brunette woman agreed wholeheartedly. Lacey’d many of the same picks from both albums so far, but there were a few she traded out for ones that made the sisters grimace–which they suspected she did on purpose to make herself seem a bit more different from them.

From their third album, _Flesh and Blood,_ the only ones she could really name as favorites were its title song, _Let it Play,_ and _Ride the Wind._ She was completely indifferent to all the others with the exception of one, the last one being the only Poison song she could say she truly hated. All the guys cracked up when they realized she was talking about _Unskinny Bop,_ which was the only song on that album she _hadn’t_ named. They all wanted to know why she’d openly despise a song so much that she said she truly hated it, and that was when she really let out her blunt personality. She swore up and down she’d been more or less indifferent to it–till an ex’d played it on repeat for two hours one Time, knowing she didn’t like it.

All four band members cringed at the Thought, and they were easily able to see why she’d hate that particular song. Wanting to move on before things got ugly, though, they got Raven’s and Lacey’s takes on favorite songs before mentioning what they considered their next album. Her favorites from _Crack a Smile…and More!_ turned out to be _Be the One, Best Thing I Ever Had, Lay Your Body Down, Sexual Thing,_ and _Shut Up, Make Love._ Beyond that, she’d only one favorite from their 2002 album _Hollyweird,_ and that was _Shooting Star,_ before she added the lone new track from _Swallow This Live,_ which was _So Tell Me Why._

“Can’t forget the last album under y’all’s belts, though,” she said with a bit of a smirk.

Each of the guys looked at each other, the other two girls sharing a look of their own.

“Can’t forget _Blind Faith, Stand,_ and _Fire and Ice_ from _Native Tongue,_ boys,” Blaze chuckled.

“Ugh, the _lost album,_ as we call it,” Bret grumbled.

“Hey, I don’t and never have condoned what Richie did back then,” the younger ginger said. “Do I think it was wrong of him? Absolutely, no matter how one tries to twist and look at the situation. But regardless of what I think of him as a man, I can still say with absolute certainty that he’s a killer guitarist the likes of which not many can achieve.”

They, especially Bobby, were all surprised to hear her say that.

“I’m not saying that CC’s a bad guitarist–quite the contrary, since he’s a killer guitarist in his own right,” she elaborated. “But I’ve yet to hear another guitarist who can make a guitar scream like a demon and sing like an angel simultaneously the way Richie can.”

“All right, that’s fair enough, I suppose,” Rikki said, shocking his band mates since he’d been the one most affected by Richie’s actions almost fifteen Years ago. “What?”

“Did I really just hear that come outta your mouth–and in regards to _him?”_ the vocalist asked, his blue eyes the size of dinner plates.

“Well, yeah,” he answered with a shrug. “So what if he basically cuckolded me back then? I’ve long since gotten over it, and she’s a point that can be based purely off his obvious talent.”

With Bret and Bobby stunned into Silence since the guitarist’d always been indifferent to the situation, given that he hadn’t been a part of it, Lacey took the reins and suggested they go ahead and get to work. After all, the studio was gonna close eventually, and they’d all have to leave and head back to wherever they were going for the Night. Nodding their agreement, the guys settled in to start working in earnest, each of the girls making their final pick on which song they wanted to contribute to.

The bassist was a bit bored as the older ginger took her turn at recording a few backing vocals for _Lil Willy,_ and he could tell his band mates weren’t exactly impressed with her, either. She wasn’t horrible by any means–God knew they could tell the difference between horrible and absolutely fan-fuckin’-tastic. However, she also wasn’t up to that latter level that’d knock any of their socks off–and very possibly cause immaculate orgasms.

Next up was Raven, who possessed a voice that was just as Soulful as their former lead guitarist’s, just without the bluesy Sound to it. She definitely proved to be able to hold her own against Bret’s lead vocals as she added backing to _I Never Cry_ alongside the other three men. But still, it wasn’t quite what the bassist’d be looking for, if he’d been scouting out someone to form a different band with, when it came to vocals. That left the younger ginger to prove whether she’d what it took to stay on par with any of the veteran rockers, and she surprised them all once again. Not only was she gonna add a few backing vocals to _Your Mama Don’t Dance,_ but she wanted to work on something else afterward.

All four musicians were surprised by how well she held her own once she’d gotten set up, but that wasn’t their biggest surprise. That part came when she proved to be able to cover Bobby’s few parts, especially his infamous one-liner, before jumping back up to hit notes somewhere between those of the vocalist and guitarist. Her voice was certainly versatile, much more so than the former aforementioned band member, and they still didn’t even know the half of it. The lone brunette woman couldn’t help a proud smile as she wrapped up, knowing what she was gonna do next based on how well she knew her big sister.

“So what’re ya wanting to work on now?” Rikki asked.

“You’ll see–or rather, hear,” she answered, nodding to her sister. “Hit it for me.”

Raven Returned the nod as she gently pushed their producer, Don Was, aside so she could start the instrumental of the song she knew she’d in mind.

“Huh–well, I guess we’ve no choice but to wait,” CC said as he shared a look with his band mates.

“Looks like,” Bobby agreed, wondering just what she was up to.

“You’re thinking too hard, dude,” the drummer chuckled after catching his look.

“Eh, it’s nothing,” he assured him. “Just remembering how she didn’t wanna smile for me yesterday ’cuz she swore she’d either look like the devil incarnate, or like she was up to no good.”

“Oh, that’s Blaze for ya,” the brunette woman said softly, smirking. “She likes keeping folks on their toes.”

No one got a chance to respond to that before hearing a certain Melody made them all turn to face the younger ginger in question. Every jaw in the room with the exception of Raven’s dropped as she started re-recording the lead vocals for _Every Rose,_ which showed just how truly dynamic her voice was. In not hearing Bret’s lead part through the headphones, she was able to sing in a far higher key, but still stay in tune with the song’s instrumental version.

In addition to being able to sing it in a higher key, Blaze threw at least three extra layers of Emotion into the vocals that the vocalist’d never been able to manage. Even when he’d originally recorded it back in 1988 for their sophomore album, the Emotions that stemmed from what made him write it in the first place hadn’t quite been conveyed the way he’d wanted them to be.

Listening to this young woman sing, though, none of them could help wondering just what she’d been through to be able to one-up Bret on his own Emotions. Then again, had she really been through anything so heartbreaking, or was she simply that much better a vocalist than he was? All of them wanted to know, but they weren’t quite sure they should ask as she soon rounded out the song and pulled off the headphones before the Music even died away. Bobby might be in the process of getting to know her and seventeen other girls, but something told him that asking such a thing might be one of the worst ideas right now. It seemed that the trio of blondes agreed with that sentiment, even though he didn’t say it aloud, judging by their expressions.

The younger ginger almost immediately hauled ass out the door, prompting the bassist to jump up outta the chair he’d claimed. Shaking her head, Raven told them to let her deal with it, uncaring of whether that even remotely hinted at their being sisters or not. When Blaze got like this, especially ’cuz of this particular song, there were only a handful of people who could handle her, those who were best at it being her baby half-sister and her older half-brother. Even the twin that only her mother and those aforementioned siblings couldn’t handle her as well, and she was like the other half of her Soul.


	6. Five

Time continued to pass, and Bobby continued to get to know–not to mention eliminate–each of the girls as he saw fit. He eliminated four almost immediately after Returning from the date won during the phone sex challenge, his reasons being almost identical. He just couldn’t seem to connect with any of them, whether it was due to them _getting lost in the shuffle,_ or there simply being no chemistry between them from the start. After thinking it over, he decided that keeping them around would just be leading them on, and he couldn’t bring himself to do that to any woman.

With the conclusion of what’d become the third episode, he made another two eliminations, one based on a very solid argument. Regardless of who’d started it, Lacey’d gotten into a Cat-fight with one of the other girls, and he’d been forced to physically separate them before anyone got hurt. Given that he didn’t have as strong a connection with her, one of his picks for elimination’d been the other girl involved in the fight–but he hadn’t been expecting her to flip him off instead of giving him a hug before she left.

After that, the girls were subjected to playing a game of football in what amounted to a giant mud puddle, given his Love of sports. Granted, if he’d his choice, they wouldn’t have been playing football since he actually preferred hockey more–despite living in Florida–but that was beside the point. Blaze wound up being the most valuable player of the team she was on, and therefore the one to win a solo date with him.

From there, the girls were put through challenges that more or less revolved around his Life on the road, not to mention just being a musician, in general. It started with what they were calling the _Tour Bus Challenge,_ which was a series of stunts themed by his Life during a tour that each’d to perform as quick as they possibly could. After that, they were to pose for mock album covers, considering that album covers were a big part of his Life as a recording artist. In fact, the band had to pose for the covers of _Look What the Cat Dragged In, Crack a Smile…amd More!,_ and their live album _Power to the People._ Aside from that, they’d to pose for pictures that were often used as the back covers on just about every album they’d ever released. That meant that there could very well come a Day that he wanted any girl he was dating to be involved in such a shoot, and he wanted to test them.

The next challenge was posed by some hand-picked _super fans,_ who were tasked with basically grilling the remaining girls into their graves. Outta the seven girls that remained at this point, there were only three that these _super fans_ sang the praises of loud enough to be heard down the block. Blaze and Raven were two of those picks, ’cuz even though they were a bit bristly and stand-offish with them, they were nothing short of bluntly honest. The third girl was named Jess, and while she wasn’t as bristly and stand-offish, she was equally honest as the two sisters that the bassist still didn’t realize were related. The quartet who remained after that were the ones given the hardest Times by their interrogators, if only ’cuz they seemed to be hiding things.

“All right, ladies–listen up,” Big John started one Morn toward the End of their Time to film.

By this point, the only ones who remained were Blaze, Raven, Lacey, and Jess, and their attention was almost immediately riveted on him.

“We’re combining a couple different themes today,” he announced.

“First and foremost is your challenge,” Bobby said as he took over. “That’s gonna be to write at least a partial song that knocks my socks off. You’ve your pick between ballad or rocker, and I don’t particularly who picks what–that includes your teammate.”

“Easy pick for us,” Blaze said, wrapping an arm around her sister’s shoulders.

“Looks like Lacey and Jess’re making up the other team, then,” he responded with a nod.

“And ladies, no offense, but we’re taking the rocker,” the younger ginger told the other two women. “I’ve already got the perfect song in mind for it.”

“Really, now?” The bassist was already intrigued, as denoted by his cocked brow.

“Uh, uh, uh,” she teased him as she playfully wagged a finger. “You’ll find out during the challenge, although it’s certainly gonna be just that for us.”

“Whyddaya say that?” Big John asked curiously.

“We’ve only got guitar, bass, lead vocals, and one backing line to work with,” Raven answered. “And I’ma struggle with that lead riff since we don’t have our lead guitarist.”

This surprised Bobby, who suddenly realized they’d been playing him in a sense all along. “Wait a minute–ya two knew each other before this Madness, didn’tcha?”

“Busted, although we’re not saying how,” Blaze chuckled.

“Well, to move on,” the former Marine said, trying to avoid blowing their cover since he’d known from Day One. “We’ve your families–or at least some close friends–here today.”

“The purpose’s for me to get to know some things aboutcha thatcha may or may not tell me on your own,” Bobby explained. “Not saying you’ve been hiding things from me–well, beyond Blaze and Raven hiding a prior relationship with one another–but I’m sure we all act differently with our families and close friends than we do with potential lovers.”

The aforementioned pair didn’t seem bothered by the fact that he’d gotten their families in on this Insanity any more than Jess did, but Lacey seemed more than a bit disturbed. For what reason, he didn’t know at the moment, but he Intended to find out–after all, she coulda been hiding having murdered a previous spouse or something. She’d long since proven to be more than a lil crazy, and not always in the best of ways, so why should he put really anything beneath her at this point? If talking to her family dug up old skeletons she’d rather’ve stayed hidden for Eternity, then that’s what he’d do to dig them up.

As soon as the premise for the Day–including the challenge–was explained to them, Big John headed to the front door to start letting their families in. Lacey’s parents were the first arrivals, quickly followed by a close friend of Jess’ since she didn’t have any living family she actually associated with. It was at that point that things got even more interesting than they already were, and the bassist couldn’t deny being surprised once again.

Last to arrive were Blaze’s sister and Raven’s brother, and he was surprised to find out that Blaze wasn’t just a twin–she was an identical twin. This twin he didn’t realize she had told him to call her Brooke, saying that it was a play on her middle name much like Blaze’s was. Curious, he cocked a brow at the pair of ginger women as they hugged, but couldn’t bring himself to ask what they meant. That was when the young man not only wrapped his arm around her shoulders, but Raven’s, as well and spilled the Beans on their Secret.

“Blaze, Brooke, and Raven’re all named after a Celtic Goddess in some way,” the young man chuckled. “Just like I’m named after a Celtic God, even though I go by Hunter.”

“And just what’s that supposed to mean?” Lacey demanded, clearly starting to realize there was more afoot here than anyone’d thought at first glance.

“Ya didn’t tell anyone, didja?” Hunter asked instead, his attention now focused on his sisters.

“We didn’t want Bobby thinking we were using our sisterhood to team up against the others,” Raven answered, shrugging. “Big John’s known since the first Day ’cuz we slipped up and said that alcoholism ran in our family, so we were kinda forced to tell him.”

“And Big John didn’t tell me, why?” the bassist asked, a bit of a hard look leveled on his trusted friend.

“’Cuz I asked him not to unless shit took a true sexual turn with one of us,” Blaze answered before he could go off on a man who didn’t deserve it. “Brooke, Raven, and I don’t mind sharing guys from Time to Time, but that doesn’t mean the guys in question wanna be shared.”

“What was the point of putting ideas in your head ’cuz ya were attracted to one of us, but had a better connection with the other, and weren’t open to such relationships?” the brunette woman asked.

“’Cuz now it’s giving me a headache from trying to decide if I oughta eliminatecha for being dishonest about it,” Bobby sighed. “And unfortunately, I can’t go lay down for a nap to get rid of it since I’ve the other girls and their families to spend Time with today.”

His turning away to head out back for a few minutes effectively Ended the conversation, as far as he was concerned, and the trio of sisters sighed.

“Sorry, girls,” Hunter said sheepishly. “I wouldn’t have opened my big mouth, if I’d known.”

“We know that, bubba,” the obviously more-Dominant ginger told him. “Let him eliminate us for being dishonest, as he put it–he’ll rob himself of the chance to see what he’s missing.”

“That’s definitely true,” Raven agreed Sagely.

“No one can top your caring hearts,” Brooke added softly. “Besides, we’ve each other, and at the End of the Day, that’s what really matters, ain’t it?”

Even the other girls’ families couldn’t deny that none of the contestants really needed Bobby, but these two girls especially didn’t. They’d each other and their other siblings, Blaze specifically having her twin, when they needed someone to lean on in Times of need. If the man they were all trying to win chose to turn his back on them for what he thought was blatant dishonesty rather than an attempt at keeping as much Peace as possible, he didn’t deserve either of these two. What he deserved was a woman who’d put him through even more hell than he’d already gone through over the course of his Life.

Out on the back patio, Bobby was quietly seething at how the two women he’d liked the most all along coulda deceived him so. He’d opened up to them about things he’d never opened up to even his band mates about, and the whole Time, they’d been playing him like a fiddle. Thinking back on the phone sex challenge and how they’d been two of his winners just made him feel gross, too, now that he knew they were related.

“Hey, man.”

Looking up, he merely grunted when he saw Big John’d joined him.

“Listen, I know you’re thinking the worst of them–and prolly me, too–right now,” his friend said.

“How can I not?” the bassist grumbled. “They’re related and you’ve known it the whole Time as much as you’ve known how attracted to both of them.”

“I also know you’re more partial to Blaze, even though ya swear you’ve always had a thing for the Dark-toned chicks,” he chuckled. “But I made a promise to them as much as they made one to me that Day, and I kept my word after I gave it.”

“Whaddaya mean by that?” Bobby asked, looking up at him again.

“I mean that I wanted to come in and tell ya as soon as I found out,” the former Marine answered. “Ya know the old adage–ask no questions, tell no lies.”

Nodding, he simply looked back down at his lap, where his hands were laced together.

“Raven told me she’s actually more attracted to Rikki, but still wanted to give this an honest shot,” Big John revealed. “From what I could tell, she was thinking there mighta been something aboutcha that made her wanna be with _you,_ not your drummer, but she wouldn’t know without going through with this.”

“Wait, what?” the bassist asked.

“I shitcha not, man,” he told him. “Blaze’s obviously the one more attracted to ya, and I think she’s stuck around to give this an honest shot as much as just being moral support for her sister.”

Now knowing that alongside that they were sisters open to sharing a man, not to mention his prior observances about their Empathy toward others, he was Beginning to see them in a New Light. Yeah, maybe they’d deceived him by not admitting their shared blood before, but they hadn’t seemed to have any ill Intent from the start. In fact, they’d actually been instrumental in weeding out some of the girls who really were up to no good, the ones often getting sloppy drunk and causing fights–the latter occurring even when they were sober.

Big John could see that his friend was doing some serious thinking and Soul-searching, and decided to give him a few more minutes alone. When he walked back in the front door, he saw the quartet of siblings hanging out with Jess and her friend, but Lacey and her parents were nowhere to be found. As it turned out, they’d decided to take their daughter out for lunch so she could have a breather of her own, which suited him just fine.

In the End, it’d be up to Bobby who got eliminated and when, but he certainly hoped that if anyone got eliminated tonight, it was Lacey. There was just something about her that didn’t strike him quite right, but he hadn’t been one to sway his friend’s opinion overmuch thus far. He wasn’t about to start up that kinda devious behavior now, even though he’d only his best interests at heart, if he _were_ to do such a thing. Left with no other real choices, he simply settled back to keep an eye on everything like a good head of security should while simply hoping for the best as the Eve progressed.


	7. Six

“So, what’d ya mean by you’re all named after Celtic Deities?”

Looking up from their plates since they’d been chosen to have lunch with Bobby, the quartet of siblings were a bit surprised by the question directed at Hunter. Considering he’d been so quiet and reserved beyond hanging out with Jess and her friend, they’d Begun to think he’d completely forgotten about that. However, they weren’t about to lie to him, so they decided to just explain their family history to him as much as they dared.

“Well, to start off, our mother’s Irish and Pagan,” Hunter answered. “We all share the same mother, but Blaze and Brooke’re the only ones who share a father–for what I hope’re obvious reasons.”

“They’re twins, so I should hope it’s pretty obvious,” the bassist chuckled.

“Going in-depth, though–my name’s actually Cernunnos,” he explained. “Cernunnos was the Celtic God of Virility, Fertility, Life, Animals, Forests, and the Underworld.”

“Really, now?” Bobby asked. “Gotta admit, I’ve never really been into Mythology, so this is actually kinda fascinating.”

_“Mmm hmm,”_ the younger man hummed as he nodded. “The Horned or Antlered God’s born at the Winter Solstice, marries the Goddess at _Beltane,_ and dies at the Summer Solstice. He alternates with the Goddess of the Moon in ruling over Life and Death, continuing the cycle of Death, Rebirth, and Reincarnation.”

_“Hmmm…”_ he hummed thoughtfully as he listened.

“Cernunnos symbolizes the Element of Earth, Love, Fertility, Death, the virile male aspect, and the Dark half of the Year, while the two-fold aspect of the God Year with the _Greenman_ or _Jack o’ the Green’s_ his Light aspect–this takes on a similarity to the old Oak King and Holly King legend. And he leads the wild hunt at _Samhain,_ hence the Day being best associated with the Dark Lord.” Hunter paused before continuing.

“He was also a consort to the Mother Goddess–who’d be Anu–and the Ancient Druids knew him as _Hu Gadarn,_ or the Honored God. Ancient Celtic images show him seated in a Lotus position, nekkid, with antlers or horns on his head. Christians demonized this benevolent God for easy conversion, and this is where the image of the Christian devil comes from–which couldn't be further from facts, nor Truth, but alas is yet another tragedy of misdeed and _bearing false witness,_ to quote a commandment.”

The bassist couldn’t help wincing slightly, if only ’cuz he’d been raised a Christian and still was one–even if he wasn’t _that_ kinda Christian.

“Animals that were sacred to him were the Bull, Ran, Stag, and horned Serpents. His variants were Cerowain, Cernenus, Herne the Hunter.”

“Definitely pretty interesting,” Bobby admitted. “Now I see why ya go by Hunter, though.”

That was when they moved on to Brooke, whose name turned out to be Lyric Belisama as a play on a couple different things. Belisama was the Celtic Goddess of Lakes and Rivers, Fire, and Crafts and Light, which made her fairly similar to the Goddess the more Dominant ginger twin was named after. However, it gave homage to the fact that the girls’d their differences, that being that Brooke always seemed like the gentler, more shy twin–till somebody threatened those or what she held near and dear.

For Blaze, her name was actually Lyra Brighid, after both a Constellation involving Orpheus and another Celtic Goddess. The Goddess in question here really was Brighid, one of the Triple Goddesses of the Celtic Pantheon. She was the daughter of The Daghda, the All Father of the Tuatha D’Danann–who were essentially a race of Warrior Fae now–and one of the most Ancient people of Northern Europe.

Some say there were actually three Brighids–one was in charge of Poetry and Inspiration, one was in charge of Midwifery and Healing, and the last was in charge of Crafts and Smiths. Therein lay how these twins could be named after two different Goddesses, as similar as they were, and both their names bear the meaning _lyre._ However, Brighid prolly Began as only a Sun Goddess, ’cuz according to legend, she was born at Sunrise and a tower of Flame beamed from her head. That certainly fit the two of them being Natural gingers, even if the Goddess in question wasn’t a ginger alongside them.

As Goddess of Fire and Water, she was immortalized by many Wells and Springs, which gave another similarity, considering what Belisama ruled over. Most important of Brighid’s monuments, though, was a Shrine at Kildare where there was a perpetual Flame burning for her. It was tended by nineteen virgins called the _Daughters of the Flame,_ who wore deep crimson habits and bore Swords as their weapons–they wouldn’t talk to men, nor could men come near the Shrine. This Goddess’ feast was St. Brighid’s Days in Ireland, as well as the Pagan Sabbat of _Imbolc,_ which was celebrated in early-February every Year as essentially the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.

“It’s said that when Christianity Began its onset, so loved was Brighid that she was made a saint,” Blaze explained, the bassist’s attention riveted on her. “However, the upkeep on her Flame was considered Pagan by the church, and it was extinguished after more than a thousand Years of burning. St. Brigit remains one of the most popular Irish saints today, along with Saint Patrick.”

“Yeesh, that’s a long Time to tend a Fire of any kind, only to let it go out,” he winced.

“You’re telling me,” the older twin grumbled with a role of her eyes. “She’s identical to the Roman Juno, Queen of Heaven, symbolizes human potential, and is also known as Brigit, Brigid, Brigindo, and Bride.”

“So what about you, Raven?” Bobby asked, turning his attention to the lone brunette woman.

“I’m named after The Morrígan,” she answered. “She’s _The Great Queen_. To be specific, though, she’s the Celtic Goddess of War, Death, Fate, and Sovereignty who could take the shape of a Crow or Raven and the Supreme Warrior Goddess.”

“Yikes, that’s a bit creepy,” the bassist said, making them all laugh.

“She’s associated with the sometimes frightening aspects of female Energy and married to The Daghda,” she continued. “The Morrígan symbolizes the Power of Fertility, the Dark Goddess’ prowess, Death, War, and Fate. She’s a shapeshifting War Goddess of sensuality, magick, prophecy, Revenge, and War, to extend the list. Known as _Great Queen, Supreme War Goddess, Queen of Phantoms,_ and _Specter Queen,_ she kept company with Fea–hateful, Badb–Fury, and Macha–battle, and she’s also known as a Triple Goddess form, as in the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Her variants’re Morrigu, Morrighan, and Morgan.”

He honestly couldn’t say that these bits of Celtic Mythology weren’t interesting, ’cuz they definitely were–and more than he’d have thought they’d be. In fact, between this and finding out that Blaze and Raven were sisters, he was Beginning to feel a bit overloaded, which wouldn’t bode well for staving off a headache. Considering that he really didn’t want that to happen, he decided that it was Time to move on to actually doing their challenge.

After getting the other girls and their families rounded up, Bobby settled in with a guest judge to see how each team did. The quartet of siblings disappeared for a few minutes, and at first, he thought it was ’cuz they just couldn’t stomach the way Lacey and Jess seemed to fight against each other. God only knew he could just barely stomach their short performance, and he certainly wouldn’t have named them tonight’s winner for that, alone. Now he was even more curious as to what the sisters were cooking up, but even Big John was to be surprised by what they revealed.

Taking a seat behind the drum kit no one’d been allowed to touch during the majority of filming, Hunter pulled a pair of sticks outta his back pocket. Brooke joined him moments later with a guitar none of them’d ever seen before and took her place at front-left, as viewed by an audience. Next out was Raven, who’d another guitar they’d never seen before strapped to her as she took her place at front-right across from her sister. With these three in position, there was only one more to go, and he certainly wouldn’t have been expecting this development.

Last onto the mini-stage was Blaze, who’d a bass that Bobby definitely didn’t recognize strapped to her as she took her place at front-center. Since none of the strings were familiar to any of them, they could only assume that Hunter and Brooke’d brought their gear from home to just jam while spending Time with them. Considering the challenge they’d been given, though, bringing their own gear from home–well, aside from the drum kit, that is–served an even better purpose. They’d no doubt already know their own gear and not have to monkey with shit like tone settings before they launched into whatever they were about to play. With that one-up on Lacey and Jess alone, there was no doubt they were more likely to win this particular challenge as the young man counted them in like a lotta drummers did.

Brooke started her lead riff at pretty much the exact same moment her brother started hammering out his rhythm, her attention focused solely on her instrument for the moment. Five seconds into their parts, he watched and listened as Blaze struck her first chord, which was held out for a full five seconds after that. It was then that she lifted her head and obviously took a deep breath, as did both of her sisters on either side of her. Even though he’d heard her sing in the studio already, he was surprised by what floated outta her mouth this Time–if only ’cuz of the slightly sultry tone she used.

_“_ _You don't know that I know…ya watch me every Night, and I just can’t resist the urge to stand here in the Light,”_ the more Dominant twin sang, her sisters covering backing. _“Your greedy eyes upon me, and then I come undone…and I could close the curtain, but this is too much fun…”_

The veteran bassist couldn’t help a shiver as she seemed to look dead at him.

_“I get off on you…getting off on me_ _–g_ _ive you what you want…but nothin’ is for free,”_ they continued, really unleashing their talent in the chorus. _“It’s a give-and-take…kinda Love we make_ _–w_ _hen your line is crossed, I get off!”_

_“I get off…”_ Blaze sang on her own, then glanced down at her bass before taking another deep breath alongside her sisters.

_“There’s so much left unspoken…between the two of us_ _–i_ _t’s so much more exciting…to look when you can’t touch… You could say I’m different, and maybe I’ma freak_ _–b_ _ut I know how to twistcha to bring you to your knees!”_

At this point, Bobby was finding it hard not to squirm in his seat from the mental images their lyrics were Conjuring up, and one look at just about every other man proved that to be the case for them, too. Through their repetition of the chorus, he’d only eyes for the leader of the group, her Siren Song ringing in his ears like no other ever had in the Past.

_“What you don’t know_ _–w_ _hat you can’t see_ _–i_ _s what I do for you…I do for me,”_ Blaze sang flawlessly. _“I get off on you…getting off on me_ _–g_ _ive you what you want, yeah!”_

Even Hunter jumped in to add a handful of backing vocals as they launched into the chorus again, never once missing a beat as he did.

_“Yeah, I get off_ _–yeah,_ _I get off!”_

Seconds later, the Music died away and as the young man stilled his cymbals, each of his sisters killed their amps so they could unplug without winding up with a ton of feedback.

Glancing at Big John and his guest judge, he cleared his throat before he tried to say anything. “Well, I dunno about anyone else, but I think I’ve _my_ chosen winner tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All credit for the lyrics used toward the End of the chapter goesta Halestorm as a whole. I'd give credit to the individual members, but I can't seem to find out who wrote more of it than another, so I'm just sticking with giving credit to the whole band for my Sanity.  
> ~Angel


	8. Seven

Blaze and Raven were no more surprised than the siblings that made up the other half of their band when they were announced the winners of tonight’s challenge. The former’d seen in the eyes of the man they were competing for right from the first beat and chord that he was already highly impressed. Moving through the rest of the song’d just impressed him even more, which was no doubt hard to do to someone with as much experience in his chosen industry as he.

None of them were quite sure what such a decision’d mean for what lil of the show was left to be filmed, though. On the one hand, it was obvious that Bobby felt the sisters’d been less-than-honest with him, which could very well get them eliminated. Then again, on the other hand, Lacey was fake and manipulative, while Jess seemed like a pretty tough cookie–but not one who could handle him and his Lifestyle for long.

Upon gathering for that Night’s elimination, neither of the sisters looked anything short of gorgeous, but not in an overly-flashy kinda way. Jess got a lil more dolled up than they’d done while still retaining more of her tom-boyish look, but the last girl’s appearance was just downright laughable. Given what they’d overheard after the Return of her and her parents that afternoon, they didn’t have a Shadow of a doubt that she’d be going home tonight for sure. The sisters were awesome at hiding in plain sight for reasons the bassist couldn’t Begin to fathom, and they’d overheard something they Wished they’d known about this tramp all along.

Moments after they’d gotten into their places, Bobby and Big John came out from wherever they’d been hiding leading up to this moment. In the hands of the latter were only two backstage passes, and that clearly meant that half of the remaining contestants’d been picked for elimination. Which two was uncertain, given all the reasons he could use for tonight, but they all knew they’d find out soon enough–and that whoever didn’t get to stay wasn’t gonna be happy. The pair of sisters just hoped that if Lacey got eliminated, she could keep her shit together long enough to vacate, or they’d be forced to take drastic measures.

“Good Eve, ladies,” Bobby said, giving the group a smile. “I think we all know why we’re gathered here–again.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious, yeah,” Blaze answered, sounding a bit snarky. The other ginger jumping her just before they’d come downstairs’d put her in a bit of a bad mood, or she wouldn’t have been the least bit rude.

“Then let’s get into the nitty-gritty of it, shall we?” he asked, taking the first pass from the former Marine.

Each woman at least figuratively held her breath as he glanced down at it, then back up at them.

“The first one I wanna have come down tonight’s Raven,” the bassist announced, chuckling at the surprise that crossed her face before a smile lit it up.

“I’m more than a bit surprised,” she admitted once she’d gotten in front of him.

“So I can tell by your expression,” Bobby chuckled, slipping the pass over her head. Once it was hanging around her neck, he leaned down enough to give her a gentle kiss, just like he’d done at every elimination thus far.

The brunette woman couldn’t help a giggle as she headed off to get herself changed and cleaned up, no longer needing to be dolled up.

“The next I wanna have come down tonight’s Blaze,” he announced as he took the second pass from Big John.

With a smile stretching across her face, she glided down the risers and short aisle till she stood before him.

“Ya seem just as surprised as your sister,” the bassist told her with a soft chuckle.

“Not surprised–more like relieved,” Blaze laughed.

Joining her laughter, Bobby leaned down to give her just as short and gentle a kiss, and he wasn’t disappointed to get her typical reaction.

“Uh, uh, uh, big boy,” the younger ginger said sternly. “If you’re dead serious about this, you’ll continue waiting.”

“All right, all right,” he laughed. “Can’t blame me for trying, just like every Time, though.”

Rolling her eyes, but still smiling at him, she turned to head off in her sister’s wake, leaving him to face the last two girls.

The bassist took a deep breath as he looked at each of them and read their expressions as he collected his Thoughts. Jess looked accepting, like she’d realized that while they’d chemistry with one another, they hadn’t quite had enough for him to ultimately keep her around. Lacey looked like she was ready to blow a gasket, and he suspected he’d get flipped off rather than hugged upon her exit like had already happened with another eliminated girl a couple weeks ago.

“Ladies, I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re my picks for elimination this Time,” Bobby started.

“Well, no shit, Bobby–they fuckin’ lied to ya about being related for weeks!” the remaining ginger snapped.

“And with no ill Intent, may I remind ya, now that I’ve heard all possible sides of this story,” he growled, his temper flaring. “Unlike you, who’s been telling lie after falsehood, no doubt to get into my britches _and_ wallet.”

Lacey’s eyes widened at the same Time her jaw dropped, and he continued before she could get a word in edgewise.

“Ya tell me that you’re a starving artist–your dad swears you’re a _Presidential Scholar_ living off the largesse of your family,” the bassist said. “Now, ya tell me–how do those two sides of a person mesh in any way that’s good?”

Sputtering in shock, she was unable to come up with the slightest excuse.

“Drunk or sober–the former of which, I sincerely despise since I got dried out Years ago–you’ve two different sides to ya,” Bobby continued. “Two sides that don’t mesh at all, and I personally feel like you’ve been even less honest with me than Blaze and Raven ever have. In the End, I could trust those two with my very Life before I could trust _you_ as far as I can pick ya up and throw ya.”

Unable to think of a way to fight his decision and Change his mind, the older ginger huffed and stormed off without even bothering to flip him off. He, Jess, and Big John all watched as she disappeared, all three of them feeling as if a weight’d been lifted when _that_ particular Storm Cloud blew away. It was then and only then that he turned his attention to the only blonde contestant who’d made it almost to the End, a bit of a sad smile on his face. The Emotion that lit up her eyes said that she’d seen this moment coming and she wasn’t surprised by it as she walked down to stand in front of him.

“Jess, I just wantcha to know that I still consider ya a good friend,” he told her as he brushed her hair back behind her ear.

“Hey, I consider ya a good friend, too, Bobby,” the young woman said. “But I think that’s as far as it’ll ever go between us.”

“At least we’re on the same page with that,” Bobby chuckled.

“More like, at least we can part amicably,” she laughed, tucking his hair behind his own ear.

Thankfully, she didn’t try to deny him when he leaned down for one last kiss, both knowing it’d be the last one they’d ever share, whether it was for the cameras or not. After they’d parted, he stood next to his friend and watched as she disappeared to go pack her bags, a hand rising so he could gently thumb away the lipstick no doubt left in the corner of his mouth.

Now his job’d just gotten a lil bit harder than before as he was forced to choose one sister over the other–but in the meantime, he needed to call home for a tether to Sanity.


	9. Eight

Over the next week, Bobby was making plans for what he could do with his remaining two contestants so he could get to know them even better. While he was getting his head on straight from the last elimination–which included calling his kids to check in on and catch up with them–they’d spent a few extra Days with their siblings. At the End of the week, Hunter and Brooke finally headed out so they could Return to wherever their home was, which finally gave him the opportunity to break the news of his plans to them.

He’d finally decided on taking them down to one of his favorite places in the World besides home–Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, home of the infamous _Cabo Wabo Cantina._ There was just something about that place that drew him in, and even having honeymooned there long ago could Destroy that for him. It seemed like the perfect place to take these sisters and really connect with one or the other in a truly Romantic sense.

Their flight was early in the Morn on Sun’s Day, but thankfully, it was a direct flight that was only about two and a-half hours long. A connecting flight could be four and a-half hours, at the shortest, and they only got longer from there, so he’d opted outta that real quick. He didn’t think Blaze or Raven either one wanted to have that kinda wait and/or be trapped on a plane for that long any more than he did, but he wasn’t expecting the next surprise he got. While waiting at LAX for their boarding call, both women seemed to be perfectly fine, if a bit sleepy since it was so early. It was when they got that boarding call that something started to go amiss, and it was definitely more than a bit blindsiding for him.

As they made to board the plane and find their seats, the one ginger with him started to get fidgety, like she’d too much pent-up Energy. Taking a second, better look at her, he realized that she wasn’t just fidgety–she was downright anxious, almost terrified even. Raven took one look at her big sister and immediately grabbed her in a tight hug, the words that floated outta her mouth completely foreign to him. The bassist was at a loss as to what to do, and he didn’t like the feeling of helplessness that settled over him like a Dark, looming Cloud. It was physically painful to know that she was in trouble, and there was nothing he could do to make things better.

“There we go, sissy,” the brunette woman said once she finally started to Calm down. “Just take some deep breaths.”

Blaze could only whimper as she clung to her lil sister.

“Blaze, what’s wrong?” Bobby finally managed to ask, his throat tight with worry.

“She’s terrified of flying,” her sister answered. “We were in a plane crash when we were kids. The two of us, Hunter, and Brooke were the only survivors, miraculously enough, and she’s never gotten over it.”

“Jesus Christ,” he swore. “Blaze, ya shoulda told me–I coulda picked somewhere else, or at least a different method of Travel.”

All the ginger did was shake her head where her face was buried against her sister’s neck.

“She woulda, if you’d eliminated me last week instead of one of the others,” Raven told him. “She knows she’ll be fine, as long as one of her siblings is with her.”

Confused now, the bassist cocked a brow at her.

“She knows that we’ve all the same Fear of flying–just not quite as intensely as hers,” she explained. “We’re gonna get it and why better than anyone else, so it helps Calm her down. Besides, she lapses into Gaelic when she gets that terrified, and who else do ya know that can speak Gaelic?”

“So _that’s_ whatcha were just speaking?” Bobby countered curiously.

_“Mmm hmm,”_ the brunette woman hummed. “It’s the only thing that gets through to her sometimes.”

“Might have to learn that, regardless of which one I pick as my ultimate winner,” he chuckled.

They were able to settle into their seats without further problems, although Blaze grabbed both their hands tightly. He couldn’t help squeezing hers in Return, mostly outta reflex, but also to reassure her that she wasn’t alone and that he wasn’t leaving her. In all Honesty, he was just glad the cameras weren’t rolling for this part, or he’d have to insist that the footage be deleted for her sake.

* * *

When their flight finally landed in Cabo San Lucas, Bobby was just as grateful as his pair of remaining contestants were. His old neck injury was starting to give him some trouble, just like it always did on flights due to the Changes in cabin pressure, and he just wanted to stretch out somewhere. Not only that, but he was just glad they could finally disembark since he knew doing this was hard enough on the ginger at his side.

At the hotel he’d booked, he headed up to his personal suite while Big John got the women settled in the one they’d be sharing for the next few Days. The bed he was confronted by as soon as he walked into the bedroom of the suite’d never looked as inviting as any other bed, except for maybe his own back home. Since the latter wasn’t an option for him just yet, he supposed he’d have to make do with what was before him as he set his bag down and pulled off his hat. It was certainly better than trying to sleep on a plane, or being forced to sleep on the floor or something equally hard since he wasn’t twenty-five anymore.

Laying on said bed a short while later, he realized that if there was one thing he didn’t know about these two women, it was how old they were. Obviously, they wouldn’t have even been picked as contestants, if they weren’t at least eighteen–the sexual shit that’d gone down alone woulda prevented that. They’d have had to be at least twenty-one to be able to partake in alcohol, or somebody’d wind up getting their asses fried for giving it to someone underage.

But for all that they seemed more mature than one’d think at first, they didn’t appear to be older than thirty, and certainly not in their forties. Then again, maybe they were just _that_ baby-faced–God only knew he’d been thirty-five and daddy of an eight-Year-old before folks quit thinking he was in his twenties. Maybe that was the case with these two–they looked younger than what they really were, and it wasn’t ’cuz of a shit-ton of makeup and creams that could be bought just about anywhere. Not wanting to give himself a headache since his neck and back were already causing him enough pain, he put all such Thoughts far from his mind. There’d be plenty of Time to think about it later, preferably not till the next Day since they were taking the Night to recuperate from their flight.

The next Morn, Bobby was up fairly early like he always was when he wasn’t touring, even when he wasn’t at home like was the case now. He was trying to find something for he and Raven to do on their date today that wouldn’t aggravate his neck, given that it was still a bit sore. That proved to be a bit more challenging than he’d originally thought it’d be, but he finally managed to find a place for them to ride Horses along a quiet strip of Beach. While he wasn’t quite the equine enthusiast that Bret was, it was still a pastime that he enjoyed, and he wanted to share it with her.

Once the brunette woman’d gotten up and ready, they headed out on their all-Day date, and she seemed to be pretty excited. By the Time the reached the stables they’d be renting a couple mounts from, he found out that she and all three of her siblings’d grown up around Horses, and it’d been Ages since she’d been riding. Following their mother’s Death in that plane crash, they just didn’t have the kinda Time they needed for such things after school.

Up in the saddle of her chosen mount, Raven took Control of the Mare like someone who’d been born in that very saddle. She rode so well that she actually put her date to shame, and he was no idiot of an inexperienced rider like he’d once been in his younger Years. Still, the bassist was able to keep up with her well enough as they rode down the Beach, a small picnic basket strapped to his saddle horn for when they decided to stop for lunch. That moment was a couple hours in coming, and by that point, he could definitely say he was in need of a break–he was starting to get saddle-sore, and that was never fun. His date laughed as she admitted that she was starting to get saddle-sore, too, not to mention hungry since she almost always skipped breakfast.

“Whyddaya do that, though?” he asked, pretending not to be aware of the cameras and mics trained on them to catch their every action and word.

“Just almost never wake up hungry like most people,” the brunette woman answered. “It usually takes me a couple hours, at the least, to want food after I wake up.”

“Eh, I usually have to have at least coffee before I want food when I wake up,” Bobby chuckled.

“Well, Blaze’s the same way–generally won’t touch so much as cereal for a couple hours after she wakes up, and certainly not pre-coffee,” she told him.

“Ya see like you’re incredibly close with your siblings,” the bassist remarked between eating his lunch.

“We’re all the others have left anymore,” Raven said once she’d swallowed what she was chewing. “We look out for each other the same way most parents look out for their kids.”

He could understand that mentality all too well, considering his having two kids back home.

“What’s up? Ya look like I just stuck my foot in my mouth on that one,” the brunette woman said.

“Just thinking about my own kids,” Bobby answered with a fond smile. “I mean, it’s been a couple months, so I miss them like I always do when I’m gone.”

That was when she was the one to look a bit disturbed, and he couldn’t help feeling like he’d just said something wrong.

“What–What is it?” the bassist asked.

“Eh, not too sure how I feel aboutcha being a dad,” Raven admitted. “I mean, I can’t help if ya are or not, and I really like ya–I’m just not at a point in my Life where I want kids of my own, let alone to be helping with anyone else’s.”

Hearing that was certainly a bit of a surprise for him, but at the same Time he felt a bit taken aback, he couldn’t help thinking that maybe that’d help him with upping his chances with Blaze. Being completely honest with himself, it was the more Dominant ginger twin that he felt the deepest connection to, and the one he wanted to be able to call his. Then again, he might be wasting his Time by chasing after her, ’cuz she might not truly wanna be with him like that, and he’d be better off going after Raven.

By the Time they got back to the hotel that Night, he certainly had a lot to think about in regards to these two–more than he’d ever thought possible. Even once he and the brunette woman were settled in the bed of his hotel room, and not for anything dirty, Bobby couldn’t help his Thoughts. Something told him that he’d be better off taking a shot with the ginger versus the woman currently in his arms.

Sleep was a long Time in coming for him due to those Thoughts, mostly about how she professed to not want kids–of which, he’d two. By the Time her warmth started seeping into him and the rhythm of her soft breathing started to lull him to sleep, the bassist felt like he’d already made his decision. He wouldn’t announce it till after his next date the following Day, but he was pretty sure who he’d pick as his ultimate winner and why. As long as Blaze didn’t prove to not want kids any more than her brunette sister, he was almost certain things’d work out better with her than anyone else on the Planet.


	10. Nine

On his date with Blaze the following Day, which involved heading out on a sailboat to see how strong her Sea legs were, Bobby couldn’t remember having ever been happier than this. Even with at least a dozen cameras trained on them and watching their every move, he felt more relaxed with this woman than he’d felt with anyone else in a long fuckin’ Time.

She seemed to be equally happy and relaxed, proving to have better Sea legs than he’d have guessed at first glance as she watched the Waves and Marine Life beneath the Surface. If there was anything he wanted right now, it was for both the women essentially in his care to be happy–but if he’d to pick which one he wanted to be happier, he’d say this one. He certainly cared about Raven and was highly attracted to her, but he didn’t think they’d ever be able to make a relationship work. If not ’cuz of her not wanting kids, then ’cuz of what Big John’d told him about her having a stronger preference for Rikki than him.

“Ya know, I can’t say that today was a wholly bad Day,” Blaze said as they settled for dinner later that Eve.

Looking at her in the dim Lighting, the bassist could already see that she was tanner than she’d been that Morn. “Well, I’m certainly glad to hear that,” he chuckled. “God knows I’d more fun today than I’ve had in a while.”

“Really, now?” the ginger beside him asked. “I figured you’d get out more, but then again, maybe I underestimated just how privatecha can really be.”

Bobby couldn’t help actually laughing, but he also saw an opportunity he hoped didn’t ruin their Night. “It’s actually not all ’cuz I’m such a private guy–it can be kinda hard to get out when you’re a single dad with full custody of two rugrats.”

“I know that feeling,” she said without missing a beat, taking him by surprise.

“Wait, whaddaya mean?” the bassist asked.

“Ya ain’t figured out that I’ma mom?” she countered with a slight smirk.

Shaking his head, he was dumbfounded–being a mother woulda been one of the last things he’d have guessed about her.

“Yeah, Youthful stupidity landed me the proud mommy of twins a few Years ago,” Blaze chuckled. “Their dad’s incarcerated for Life with no chance of parole, either.”

“Then I should hope ya didn’t leave two lil kids home alone to come do this,” he said.

“I’m not that stupid, Bobby,” the ginger snorted. “I left them with Uncle Hunter, whose wife no doubt kept them for the week that he was out here without complaint.”

“At least there’s that,” Bobby sighed.

“Kinda makes me wonder about your own kids, though, if we’re gonna go that route,” she told him.

“My older one’s old enough to hold down the fort, and I’ve a neighbor keeping an eye out for them, too,” the bassist chuckled.

Blaze seemed genuinely curious about his kids, and not in a creepy sorta way that’d tip him off to her having ill Intent in regards to them. Shooting a sidelong glance at the cameraman to his left, he said he’d tell her more about them later, that he wanted to focus on them for the moment. Clearly sensing that he didn’t wanna reveal too much about minors on national TV, she simply nodded and dropped the topic. After all, she didn’t wanna reveal much about her twins on camera, or she’d have mentioned them far sooner than this, so she totally understood his Silent message.

Following dinner, they headed off on a short walk down the Beach, fingers laced as their hands swung between them with their leisurely pace. Bobby made a bit of small talk with her, but mostly chose to just enjoy the Peace and quiet while it was his for the taking. They both wanted to talk about their kids, but were still keeping their word about not doing so while cameras were still rolling to ensure their safety and privacy.

After Returning to the hotel and the bassist’s suite, they were finally free of the cameras that’d been following them for months. That was when he took his chance to ask her about her twins, and he couldn’t help a slight smile at the absolutely adoring look that crossed her face as she grabbed her wallet. Flipping it open, she showed him a lil picture of a lil boy and girl, both covered in mud and grass with giant, bright smiles almost breaking their faces as they looked at whoever took the picture.

“These two’re Corona and Corvus,” Blaze told him.

“Seriously–ya named your kid after a brand of beer?” he laughed.

“Nope–both’re named after Constellations as much as I am,” the ginger shot back with a grin.

Since he wasn’t much of a Stargazer, Bobby could only cock a brow curiously.

“Corona came from _Corona Borealis,_ which means _the Crown of the North_ in Latin,” she explained. “She’s my lil Princess, and she was born in the Northern hemisphere.”

“It actually sounds fitting, now that I know that,” the bassist agreed with a nod.

“Corvus came from _Corvus the Crow, Corvus_ being the Latin word for _Crow_ or _Raven,”_ Blaze told him. “Crows and Ravens’re said to be Messengers from Other Realms, but they also as intelligent and patient as they are greedy and deceitful.”

“If he’s at least intelligent, I can see how that’d be a fitting name,” he chuckled.

“Not to mention that I call him Crow all the Time ’cuz he sounds just like one when he screams,” the ginger laughed. “He sounded like one when he let out his first cries after he was born, too.”

“So how old’re these lil boogers?” Bobby asked curiously. “They look like they’re four or five to me.”

“They turned five back in October, right before we started filming this Insanity,” she answered. “And before ya ask, I turned thirty the week before their birthday, myself.”

“Wow, I didn’t think ya were quite that young, but I didn’t think ya were as old as me, either,” the bassist admitted sheepishly.

Blaze laughed and made it clear that she wasn’t offended, ’cuz people always guessed her age wrong, if she wouldn’t outright tell them. She knew her baby-faced looks made everyone think she was younger than what she really was, but her maturity and Wisdom made her seem far older. It was always hard to peg an age for her, and her siblings were often the same way, so it was hard to take offense to such a thing.

Now it was his turn to share a bit about his kids, and he didn’t exactly hesitate in doing so–more like his wallet got caught as he was pulling it outta his back pocket. Flipping it open so she could see, he showed her a picture of Zach and Zoe, and it was pretty obvious which one was which. Zach easily looked like he was in his teens, which made sense, given that he’d be sixteen in a couple weeks–which was part of why he wanted to wrap up this filming soon. His daughter looked every bit her not-quite ten Years old, which made her look not quite as young as Corona and Corvus, but certainly not as old as her big brother.

For the rest of the Night, they couldn’t help chatting about their kids and home Lives, something he doubted woulda worked very well with any of the other contestants. Bobby couldn’t help but feel like this one’d stuck figurative claws in his heart and was pulling at it, but not with the Intent to rip it outta his chest. No, this felt more like she was pulling at it, but with the Intent to clench her fist around and protect it rather than trying to do anything malicious with it.

As they settled into bed that Night, the bassist couldn’t help the soft sigh that drifted past his lips as he wrapped his arms around her. There was just something about Blaze that drew him in further and further, like a Luna Moth to an open Flame, and he wanted to keep her around far beyond filming. He’d just have to figure out how to manage that with them both being single parents who no doubt didn’t wanna uproot their kids for their own personal gain. There’d be plenty of Time to think about it on the morrow, though, and he wasn’t about to let such Thoughts rob him of sleep. He still had his final decision to make, anywhore, and while he was already pretty certain of that, he still wanted to think it through more after a good Night’s sleep.


	11. Ten

Over the course of the next Day, Blaze and Raven were left to their own devices while the bassist was thinking over everything he’d been through the past couple months and making his final decision. The brunette sister was a bit surprised to find out that the ginger’d admitted to being a mother, even if it was a bit overdue. She talked about the twins as seldomly as their potential suitor seemed to talk about his own kids, maybe even more so, considering the aspect of Danger that lurked over their heads.

Blaze hadn’t been kidding when she’d said that her babies’ father was incarcerated for Life without parole, and she’d every reason to be wary. She hadn’t known quite how dangerous he really was when she first hooked up with him, just that he’d his shady moments from Time to Time. Only when he was arrested for first-degree murder did she find out just what he was capable of, and it’d sickened her to her core.

The man who’d fathered Corona and Corvus’d committed the brutal murder of a young, pregnant woman just a few miles away from where they were living together. That poor young woman’d proven to be an ex-girlfriend of his, and the child was one he was determined to snuff out before it’d a true chance at Life. He didn’t know for sure that it was his, ’cuz he swore his ex’d cheated on him plenty of Times before they ultimately split. Even if he _was_ the father, though, he was the type that didn’t want kids–and unlike Raven, it wasn’t just ’cuz he wanted to advance in Life more before having any.

“I mean, what can I say?” the ginger chuckled. “Bobby admitted to being a daddy without me having to ask him, so why shouldn’t I admit to being a mommy without being asked?”

“I guess that’s fair enough,” Raven agreed with a nod. “I’m still just surprised, after Kyle and all that bullshit.”

“Something tells me I’ll never have to worry about that kinda shit outta Bobby,” she told her. “I mean, he’s two kids of his own–why would he wanna hurt mine?”

“Fair point,” the brunette admitted.

“Besides, let’s face it–he’s more reason to worry about me killing him for his money than I’ve to worry about him hurting the twins,” Blaze pointed out.

“Now, we both know you’re not like that,” her baby sister gently admonished her.

“We both know that, but how’s he supposed to without truly getting to know me?”

Unable to really come up with a response since once again, she knew her big sister was right, Raven simply chose to shut up while she was still ahead. They were trying to relax as much as they could before that Night’s elimination, even though they were both already pretty certain of who was gonna be deemed the winner. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who the bassist was more likely to pick, but they were still nervous about it.

As they physically prepared themselves later that Eve, Blaze couldn’t help a few jitters as she decided to go all-out with her appearance. Even if she was the one who wound up getting eliminated, tonight was too special for her to not dress up far more than she’d done for any other elimination thus far. In fact, even the brunette woman was dressing and dolling up more than she’d done any other Time during the past couple months ’cuz it was such a special and momentous occasion. And just as they finished up their preparations, a knock sounded at their suite door that denoted the moment of Truth’d finally arrived.

Down on the Beach that pretty much served as a back yard to China for their hotel, Bobby waited under the _cabaña_ for the pair of women he’d to choose between. There was less wind to blow his hair in his face, considering he’d long ago given up wearing bandanas unless he really needed to. Wrapping a piece of cloth around his forehead to hold his hair back was Bret’s thing, not his, and it’d be that way till the Days both their coffins were put in the ground.

His wait after sending Big John up to get them wasn’t long, and he was beyond stunned once he clapped eyes on the pair of sisters. Both’d apparently decided to go all-out tonight, but their style choices suited both of them perfectly, flattering their gorgeous physiques rather than making them look horrible. Granted, Blaze was obviously more attractive to him, even in a corset and leather mini skirt that took him back to Times and places he hadn’t been for twenty Years. Still, a smile crept across his face as the bassist took in Raven’s cocktail dress that clung to her like a second skin and accented her mile-long legs as well as a pair of stilettos. They were both ravishing in their own ways, and he wasn’t about to make them feel like anything less as he let his eyes rake up them.

“Ladies,” he said by way of greeting.

“Good Eve,” they responded in unison, their hands folded behind their backs.

“Well, to steal an Aerosmith lyric for a minute, _the moment of Truth has arrived,”_ Bobby chuckled, causing them to giggle. “Let’s get this show on the road–or more aptly, wrapped up–shall we?”

“We shall,” they agreed, a grin splitting Raven’s face.

“Raven, I’m pretty sure we’d make some damn good lovers–in another Lifetime,” the bassist started. “Sure, we’ve a chemistry I just didn’t have with any other contestant the last couple months, but there’re some things that’re just deal-breakers for me.”

“Like my not wanting kids,” Raven said bluntly, purposely making it sound like they’d merely talked about the possibility of starting a family, not that he already had one.

“Yeah, that’s one of my deal-breakers,” the bassist admitted. “Despite having always been more attracted to the Dark-toned, Mysterious types like myself, I just can’t manage to get past that one.”

She merely nodded her understanding, still being careful not to give away the fact that he was a daddy.

“That being said, I think of ya as a friend, but I don’t think it can go any further than that,” Bobby concluded with a slightly sad smile. “Maybe if we were in another Time and place, but not where we’re currently at in our Lives.”

“Hey, I get it,” the brunette woman chuckled. “Besides, I think it’s pretty obvious who ya really want, even if the reasons why’re anything but.”

A bit surprised that she’d seen through him so easily, it took him a moment to Return the hug she gave him before she turned to her big sister.

_“Téigh fháil dó,_ Tigress, _agus a dhéanamh bródúil as dom,”_ Raven said just loud enough for her mic to pick up before she released her grip and headed back into the hotel.

“Do I even wanna know what she just said?” the bassist asked on a nervous chuckle as she turned to him.

“I doubt it–not as much as I wanna hear what you’ve to say about me,” she giggled.

“Well, in that case,” Bobby laughed. “Blaze, I gotta say–ya came into my Life when I least expected it and certainly set damn near everything about it on Fire.”

The ginger couldn’t help letting out a harder, louder laugh of her own at that choice phrase.

“There’s just something aboutcha that I’ve never quite been able to name,” he continued. “If I’m honest with both of us, I haven’t felt like this since I was an idiot twenty-three-Year-old still wet behind the ears not long after I met my ex-wife.”

“Oh, wow–that bodes _soooo_ well for our Future,” Blaze drawled, her smirk belying the sarcasm her tone was dripping with.

“Hey, cut me some slack–it’s been twenty Years since then!” the bassist laughed a mite defensively.

“Yeah, that’s right–you’re older and not quite as dumb now, am I right?” she asked, clearly baiting him for some playful banter.

“Oh, I’m older, all right–but I’m still every bit as dumb when I wanna be,” Bobby answered with a grin. “But I think that’s one of the many reasons we work so well together. Ya gimme shit over being an idiot sometimes, but it’s always in a playful way like this that makes it fun–and sometimes makes me think–while still covering my six almost as much as Big John does.”

“I just cover it in different ways than him,” the ginger chuckled.

“Different ways that’re all the best ones,” he agreed. “Those things considered, I’ve one last question for ya…”

Blaze didn’t even bother holding her breath, already knowing what that question was gonna be before he even asked it.

“Blaze, will ya get your gorgeous ass over here and continue rocking my World as my Goddess of Rock?”


	12. Eleven

It seemed like Time suddenly screeched to a halt the second that question left Bobby’s lips, his mouth and throat suddenly dry as a Desert. Those beautiful baby-blues watched him for a few moments, and he felt like his heart was about to fly outta his chest as he awaited her response. Nothing on this Planet’d ever made him as nervous as a simple _yes_ or _no_ answer, not even his first show on a stage bigger than what was normally found in a bar or club.

The grin that split her face after toying with him for a few moments was downright devious, but Blaze still finally made her way over to him. He still literally and figuratively held his breath, knowing she could very well be letting him think she was about to say yes before she actually broke his heart. Not just broke his heart, given that he was pretty sure he’d fallen madly in Love with her, but publicly humiliated him too much to ever recover from.

Feeling her grab the lapel of the jacket he wore over his simple dress shirt was a bit of a surprise, as denoted by the way his eyes widened at first. But when he felt her tugging him down slightly, his brain quickly forced itself into gear and he went with whatever she was about to do. The sensation of her lips gently pressing to his was an even bigger shock, and in more ways than one, but in all the best ways. Now he understood why she’d refused so much as a gentle, chaste peck over the course of the last couple months as it felt like fireworks started exploding in his heart and Soul.

_“Is breá liom tú–dóthain chun déan na dealga de chuid do Rós níos mó ná fiú é,”_ the ginger said after breaking the kiss and moving up next to his ear so only he’d hear her.

“What? I’m afraid I don’t speak Swahili,” Bobby said, barely biting back a laugh as he teased her.

“I’ll translate it later,” she promised. “Not something I want caught on camera, no matter how much I mean it.”

_“Ooh,_ must be something dirty,” the bassist chuckled, earning him a gentle smack to the chest. “Jeez, not even in the hotel room yet, and you’re already beating me!”

“If ya think it’s bad now, just wait till we’re up in that hotel room!” Blaze shot back, her grin belying any Anger that seemed to lace her words.

“Oh, boy– _da fuq_ have I gotten myself into now?” he asked, mocking Fear at the Thought of what she was gonna do to him.

A solid smack landed across his rump, and he couldn’t help gasping before letting out a low growl that warned her she was starting to push it. He hadn’t forgotten that afternoon when he’d posed the phone sex challenge at the Beginning of this Madness, and what it’d resulted in for him. Even as he ripped at the mic and Sound pack he’d been wired up with, he wasn’t about to let her think he’d forgotten in all this Time.

Once they were unwired and the crew was off to pack up their gear, Bobby swept up the woman he was ecstatic to call his Goddess of Rock. Cradling her to his chest, he leaned down to kiss her again before heading into the building, where he was glad that most other patrons’d already gone to their rooms. He didn’t exactly wanna be disturbed on their way upstairs, and certainly not by fans eager for something that was far from his mind at the moment. This was one of those Times that he considered the Time his, and unless he was getting paid a significant amount of money, he wasn’t losing a single moment of it.

In his–thankfully–soundproofed suite, the bassist set the woman in his arms back on her feet, if only so he could close the main door. He hadn’t gotten laid in months–easily since before that infamous _Down-Home Show-down_ back in August just Days before his last tour Ended. Now that, as far as anyone who eventually watched this insane show was concerned, he’d won the heart of this young woman–well, he Intended to at least try to take things further in a physical sense.

Blaze certainly wasn’t one to object to his Wishes, considering she hadn’t gotten laid in the last three Years, not even once. Then again, being the single mother of twins left lil Time for things like pursuing a man, and if not for her siblings always having her back, she doubted she’d be where she was. Besides, she’d been fighting her attraction to _this_ particular man ever since late-October when she’d first arrived at that Encino, California mansion. Now it was high Time she not only show him some Love, so to speak, but show herself some before it drove her insane in a bad way. Luckily, their minds and hearts were just as in tune with their bodies, and the bassist didn’t voice the slightest objection to anything she did or tried to do to him–within reason, of course.

* * *

“So, what’d ya say to me right after ya kissed me downstairs? I don’t speak a lick of Gaelic.”

Now sated for the moment and pleasantly tangled up in the sheets, Blaze’s head rested on the chest of the man she’d undoubtedly call her boyfriend. His fingers were gently playing with her hair, the action combined with how many Times he’d gotten her off during the past few hours serving to nearly lull her to sleep. Then again, just the Sound of his beating heart right beneath her ear could have that effect on her, whether she wanted it to or not, but especially when she was already tired.

Squirming slightly so she could push herself up onto an elbow, the ginger bit back a yawn before looking down at him. Lost in those brown orbs within seconds, she felt like she was drowning in a vat of molten Chocolate–but it’d be such a sweet way to die, were it a Reality. However, the question he’d just asked lurked in those eyes, and she knew she’d better answer him, lest she accidentally piss him off.

Bobby couldn’t help but stare into those baby-blues that made him feel like he was drowning, himself–just in the clearest of Waters instead of a vat of molten Chocolate. There was a bit of uncertainty lurking in them, but he didn’t feel as if she were on the verge of being dishonest with him. No, if anything, he felt like she was gauging whether to translate what she’d said now, or wait a while longer before doing so to avoid winding up regretting whatever it was she’d said to him. If that was the case, he could live with her choosing to wait–he’d rather she be sure of whatever she said than to say something she didn’t mean.

Taking a deep breath, Blaze slowly blinked before looking the bassist dead in the eye again. “I said, _I love you–enough to make the thorns of your Rose more than worth it.”_

Shocked by the translation–and the slight pun she’d clearly put on one of his band’s songs–he wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“Yeah, now ya see why I didn’t wanna have that caught on camera,” the ginger chuckled. “I knew it might be a bit too soon to say such a thing, and I didn’t wantcha making an ass of both of us, if ya don’t feel the same way–but I always speak from the heart.”

“Oh, Blaze–no, that’s not it at all,” Bobby assured her as he pushed himself up a bit more. “Far from it, actually.”

Curious now, she held his gaze as she cocked a brow.

“If I’m completely honest, I think _I_ fell in Love with _you_ the Day of the phone sex challenge,” the bassist admitted, a blush creeping up to stain his cheeks. “No woman’s ever been able to talk dirty enough to me to make me that desperate with just a phone call–but damned if I didn’t need to sate myself before I caught a nap that afternoon.”

“What a reason to need a nap, huh?” Blaze giggled. “Not to mention what a reason to fall in Love with someone.”

“Hey, at least I’m being honest about it,” he chuckled. “I could be lying to your face instead of telling the Truth.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely true,” the ginger agreed. “Just like it’s equally true thatcha shouldn’t feel pressured to say those three words to me just ’cuz I said ’em to you so soon.”

“And I’d make myself out to be an even bigger liar, if I said that I _didn’t_ love ya,” Bobby told her. “’Cuz I _do_ –so much more than I’ve loved anyone in a long Time. Hell, prolly more than I ever loved my ex-wife, and that’s saying something, considering I’d have laid down my Life for her before our marriage fell apart.”

Feeling too Emotional to get any words out as her throat essentially snapped shut, she simply captured his lips with her own again as she let a tear trickle down her cheek. Since he’d never liked seeing a woman cry, not even happy tears, Bobby reached up to gently thumb away that tear as he eagerly Returned this kiss. However, unlike most of the ones they’d shared thus far tonight, this one wasn’t heated and rushed, like they were desperate for far more. No, this kiss was far more tender and passionate, bespeaking every ounce of Love and Affection they felt for one another without having to use a single word.

Considering how late it’d gotten and how tired they were after nearly tearing down the walls, to make a pun on another Poison song, the bassist couldn’t help a yawn as they parted. That prompted her into letting out a yawn of her own, which made him chuckle as he rolled onto his left side to face her. Feeling her soft, but full breasts pressing against his chest was arousing, but made him sigh contently as he wrapped an arm around her.

Neither of them knew exactly what the Future held for them and their families, but at the moment, nothing mattered beyond the Love and safety they found in each other’s embrace. They could deal with whatever lay in wait for them on the morrow, and they both knew that as long as they’d the other, they could weather whatever Storms came their way. For now, they were both pleasantly exhausted after a long couple months, and he was just glad to be able to officially call her his Goddess of Rock.


	13. Twelve

Edging on a Year after the taping of that final episode of what became known as _Goddess of Rock,_ Bobby was deliriously happy. While it’d taken a bit of Time to get all their kids used to the idea and make the necessary arrangements, he was still happily taken by the young ginger, who’d moved herself and her kids down to Florida with him and his. A Year ago, he couldn’t have said whether he actually thought such an outcome’d occur, but he certainly hadn’t expected it to.

Since they were still happily in a relationship, much to the chagrin of some of the other contestants, there was no need to do a _season two_ of the show. Instead, they were in a backstage dressing room, preparing for the reunion show that’d be the last one ever filmed, and they were closing this chapter for good. Just down the hall, Bret was getting ready for the reunion episode taping of his own Reality dating show, _Rock of Love,_ which hadn’t garnered him nearly the same outcome. Being a party-boy with some serious commitment issues, not to mention simply picking the wrong girl as his winner, he was already slated to do a _season two_ of his own show.

Before the bassist headed out onto the stage set up before a live audience–and across from the section set up for nineteen of the girls–Bret meandered over to give him a gentle clap on the back. He was happy that this show’d worked out so well for him, that he’d found the woman he planned to stay with for the rest of his Life. Unorthodox it might be, it was certainly one way to meet the Love of one’s Life, and that was what mattered to him.

“Thanks, man,” Bobby chuckled, wrapping an arm around the blonde’s shoulders. “I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I got that call last September.”

“Hell, ya told me thatcha were thinking about _not_ signing on to do it!” he laughed as they pulled away from one another.

“Well, I honestly wasn’t gonna do it at first,” the bassist admitted. “Ya know what a private guy I am outside the band.”

“Don’t I know it, and well?” Bret chuckled. “You’ve been that way since the Day Rikki and I metcha back in 1980, and I don’t think you’re ever gonna Change.”

“Now, looking back on that Day–I’m glad I _did_ do it, ’cuz otherwise, I wouldn’t have met Blaze,” he told him. “And Raven’s a fuckin’ riot, once ya get her drunk enough and get her going.”

“Never thought I’d see the Day thatcha let alcohol be brought around ya again, man,” the vocalist responded with a grin, glad to hear he could be around the substance without being tempted too much.

Their conversation was cut short by the stage manager knocking on the open door and telling Bobby that it was Time to go. He’d roughly a minute to be at his post so he could head out onto the stage, or he was gonna throw off the whole show, and that was the last thing any of them wanted without him being sick. Nodding, he gave his friend and band mate one last hug before heading off behind the stage manager to take his place.

Hosting the show was a guy with a now long-Time career in hosting various shows and radio stints, starting with the _Headbanger’s Ball_ on MTV in the mid-nineties. While they didn’t know each other quite as well, Riki Ratchman was pretty good friends with Bret and fellow rocker Axl Rose, the latter having known him for over a decade at this point. Even though he didn’t trust Axl as far as he could throw him, the bassist _did_ trust the man he’d called his best friend since long before Guns n’ Roses was a dot on the musical map. If he was cool with him hosting the reunion episode of _Rock of Love,_ he didn’t see why he shouldn’t let him host the reunion for the cast of _Goddess of Rock._

Once given his cue, the bassist took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his kisser before he ran out from behind the curtain hiding him from the audience and cameras. He’d managed to snag a quick kiss from his girlfriend, and that’d helped steady the nerves he didn’t show to the rest of the World most Times. As much as he was her rock when she needed the Strength, Blaze filled the same role for him when he needed her to, very much making theirs a give-and-take kinda Love.

Settled in his seat across a small End table from Riki, they waited for the audience to settle down so they could be heard. With the amount of cheering and applause that’d started up the second he was announced, there was no way they’d have heard anything the other said. Even as sensitive as they were, the mics clipped to the collars of their shirts wouldn’t have picked up anything they said, so it was best to wait a few moments till it was almost quiet enough to hear a pin drop in the studio they were filming in. That was when the host took a deep breath, and he slipped his hand into his jacket pocket at the same Time he took his own deep breath.

“So, Bobby–how’ve things been since the conclusion of _Goddess of Rock?”_ he was asked moments later.

“Honestly, I don’t think things could get any better than what they are,” Bobby answered honestly, a grin splitting his face and showing off his Pearly-whites to the crowd.

“To my understanding, you’re still with your chosen winner–is that actually true?” the host asked him.

“Yeah, we’re still together, but we’ll go a bit more in-depth on that in a bit,” he laughed. “We’ve a lotta ground to cover, and not a whole lotta Time to cover it in.”

“Definitely true, my man!” Rikki agreed with a laugh of his own. “So, what on Earth prompted _you_ –the most private member of Poison–to even consider such a thing, let alone do it?”

“Well, I’ll be honest with ya–I was highly tempted to go check my drawers for skid marks after I got the initial phone call,” the bassist answered. “I was an ass-hair away from _not_ doing the show at all–but my son jackhammered through my coconut and talked some sense into me, so to speak.”

“Your son did?” he asked, just as surprised as the nineteen girls sitting across from them, not to mention the live audience.

“Yeah, my son,” Bobby said with a nod. “If Zach weren’t pushing seventeen, I wouldn’t mention him now any more than I did when we were filming the actual show.”

“All right, so how’d Zach manage to get in your head and convince ya to do it?”

“He gave me his own perspective of my Life ever since the divorce from my ex-wife was finalized in ’01.” Taking a deep breath, he recalled memories he preferred to keep buried. “Depressed ’cuz of my thirteen-Year relationship going down the shitter, beyond livid at the circumstances of why–basically, anything _but_ the Bobby Dall that most of the World knows and loves.”

“And Naturally, he couldn’t stand seeing ya that way any more than most other kids can with their folks,” Riki said, nodding sympathetically.

“He told me that he recalled all too clearly how he’d to hide any liquor I’d forgotten about having in the house, ’cuz I was already fighting the temptation to get strung out on my painkillers right after my surgery a few Years ago,” the bassist answered. “Riki, he wasn’t even eleven when that happened, yet he’d to be the adult and keep me from going off the deep End when _I_ shoulda been the one taking care of _him.”_

“That’s definitely not something any parent’s gonna think about fondly,” he told him with a wince.

“No, it’s not–and believe me, it’s absolutely humiliating to sit here and admit that I once gave up on Love to the point that it nearly Destroyed myself and my family.”

That led into a short commercial break–or rather, what’d become such once the show was actually edited and aired later on. Even if no one else could, the director could see that he needed a minute to get himself together after making that admission so publicly. No one could stop his girlfriend from darting out onto the stage once the cameras stopped rolling, her man’s well-being coming before any footage that’d to be deleted later.

Blaze plopped down onto his knee and cupped his cheeks in her hands, gently lacing her fingers through his hair as she leaned toward him. Grateful for his tether to Sanity, the woman who’d become his rock to lean on, he hummed into the kiss she gave him before sighing softly against her lips. It was impossible to deny the bond they obviously shared with one another, how she didn’t give a damn about what kinda trouble she got herself into, as long as her man was safe and loved. Few ever found that kinda Love, and for the ones who did–well, it was certainly something special to be celebrated as often as possible.

Once assured that he wasn’t on the verge of breaking down anymore, the ginger gave him another quick, but gentle kiss before rising from his lap. The words that followed her were only understood by Bobby, a smile crossing his face as he Returned the sentiment in kind before she disappeared backstage again. Now that she was outta anyone’s frame, the director gave the cue to start rolling again, and Riki picked up where they’d left off before the short, but impromptu break.

“All right, so we left off with a startling admission from Bobby I don’t think any of us woulda ever seen coming in a million Lifetimes,” he started off. “That leads us to what–besides a bit of a pep-talk from his son–made him decide to go through with _Goddess of Rock.”_

Chuckling, the bassist waited for his cue to take a breath. “Well, ya just said the biggest reason, Riki–the other was a gut feeling that it was something that I _had_ to do.”

“Really? I didn’t think ya believed in that kinda thing,” Riki said.

“And I really didn’t believe in Fate like that in the Past–but that’s one thing my relationship over the past Year’s Changed drastically,” he explained. “But there was something telling me that I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter, even if I couldn’t explain why then.”

“So, let’s start with the first Day of filming–what was that like for ya?” the host asked curiously, obviously trying to move on.

“Absolutely nerve-wracking and maddening all at once,” Bobby laughed. “I’d orders coming from here, there, and everywhere about where I was supposed to be, how I was supposed to be dressed–ya name it.”

“Something tells me ya didn’t take to _that_ very well,” he chuckled.

“Cue the button on my middle fingers getting hit–and hard,” the bassist snarked back with a grin.

From there, they talked about that very first episode up to the eighth, which was when the families of the remaining girls’d been brought in. Everybody agreed that some of the funniest moments’d been when Blaze’d refused to kiss him after each elimination and the look he’d given Lacey’s dad when the man’d dared to mention him signing a pre-nup with the crazy broad. But nothing could top the more-than-slightly crazed look on his face when he’d threatened to throw the crew in the master suite off the roof, if they didn’t get out following the phone sex challenge from the second episode.

He still wouldn’t admit to this Day who’d been the last one he’d taken one of those dirty calls from, even though it’d been caught on camera for the World to see. He certainly wouldn’t admit that it was all that one girl, not a combination of them, that’d gotten him so worked up in what’d felt like three hours, but turned out to be about twenty minutes. Nobody needed to know just how filthy his girlfriend could get when she felt like it unless they were in her bed–and since he didn’t share, that meant nobody else should be in her bed.

Several more commercial breaks were taken, the latest one being after they finished talking about that _Meet the Parents_ episode, where he’d found out about Blaze and Raven being sisters. It was during this last break that he quickly excused himself from the stage, his coffee from that Morn and all the Water he’d been sipping the last couple hours having made him more than a lil desperate. Thankfully, no one was dumb enough to get in the way of a forty-five-Year-old man in need of the bathroom, or he’d have simply mowed them down in his rush. Once that need was taken care of, though, it was back to the stage with him so they could get a couple more of the girls’ takes before moving on to discussing the show’s finale.

There wasn’t really anything to be nervous about, now that they’d gotten through some of the worst parts already, but he was still a bit jittery. Maybe that was ’cuz he knew they were about to talk about the Day-long solo dates he’d taken the sisters on down in Mexico, maybe it was something else. Regardless of what it was, he knew a few different big moments were soon to arrive, and they’d Change several Lives as they did.


	14. Thirteen

“Before we get into the show’s finale, I’ve gotta ask–where’d ya come up with the term _Goddess of Rock?”_

Back on the stage after that final break everyone was afforded, Bobby draped one hand over the ankle resting on his knee, the other in the middle of picking up his glass from the End table next to him. He’d figured this question’d pop up sooner or later, and he wasn’t the least bit ashamed in the answer he’d already decided to give, if and when it did.

“Believe it or not, Blaze and her siblings’re all named after a handful of Celtic Deities,” he answered after sipping his Water.

“Really–how’d ya find that out?” Riki asked curiously.

“’Cuz I flat-out asked in a segment that never made it into the _Meet the Parents_ episode,” the bassist laughed. “Actually, I don’t think the cameras were even rolling at that point–I needed a break from them, and the crew were all getting hungry, now that I think about it.”

“I’d ask if ya care to share which ones, but I’ll prolly get told thatcha plead the fifth or something,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, pretty much since I’m not giving away their personal info like that,” Bobby answered with a nod. “But the network hadn’t nailed down a name for the show in all the Time we spent filming, and knowing that quartet was named after Deities was a bit Inspiring.”

“Sounds like it,” the host agreed with a nod of his own. “But hey, Deities typically rule various things, and if your winner’s your own personal Goddess, it’s kinda fitting.”

“That’s why I don’t regret having said that at the End of the show’s finale,” he admitted.

“And speaking of said finale, here’s a short recap of what happened when Bobby decided to take his last two contestants South of the border!”

Looking up at the screen that’d been mounted behind the stage, Bobby saw where he and said women’d arrived at their hotel, knowing full well what’d happened before then. They all looked a bit tired, but his now-girlfriend certainly looked the worst, considering her utter Terror when it came to planes and flying. He heard the audience murmuring about how she looked like she’d spent their flight sick or something, and he was glad to hear the Sympathy in their voices rather than condescension.

In her dialogue to the camera, Raven made it clear that while she was thrilled to’ve made it so far, she was pretty sure she was just getting a free vacation in Cabo for a few Days. Sure, she considered the bassist a friend and thought they’d potential as a couple, but not like he and her big sister did. No one could deny the things that shone in their eyes when they looked at each other, and if they did, they were a total moron of the highest order.

The entire crowd couldn’t help bursting into laughter at the brunette sister’s opinion of the matter, which just made her smirk smugly as she threw a short wave to the camera that got turned on her now. Her bright green eyes–which were a mixture of Green Flourite and Green Onyx–twinkled as she seemingly dared anyone to argue her assessment from nearly a Year ago. Apparently, nobody present could find it in them to do so, if only after seeing how the ginger’d come out to Comfort him earlier during that first break. There was just no way to deny what was between them, even now, and not make a liar of oneself in doing such a thing.

“All right, so your bigger deal-breaker with Raven was her not wanting to have kids, right?” the host asked as they got to the gap between the End of her date and the Beginning of Blaze’s.

“Yeah, it kinda was,” Bobby admitted with a nod. “Looking back on my own younger Years, I shouldn’t expect her to Change her mind just ’cuz I already had two, myself.”

“Ya mentioned your son earlier, so what’s this about a second?” he asked curiously.

“Not getting into that aside from saying Zach’s a big brother outta concern for my baby’s safety and well-being,” the bassist answered, effectively pleading the fifth and telling him to suck his left nut.

“All right, all right–we don’t need to poke the Papa Bear and get him started,” Riki chuckled.

“Damn right, ya don’t,” he grumbled, his eyes hardened to look like Stone at the Thought of anyone using what he said to go after either of his kids, especially his baby girl.

“That leads us up to your date with Blaze, then,” the host said, turning back to the screen.

Said ginger’s dialogue to the camera was just as eloquent as her baby sister’s, denoting an intelligence that was hard to find these Days. One almost couldn’t get any more well-spoken than they were without being Royalty, but they’d somehow managed to do just that. It was one of the things he loved about his girlfriend, though, ’cuz that meant fewer misunderstandings since she said what she meant and meant what she said. The fewer number of misunderstandings, the fewer number of fights between them that’d ultimately get started over stupid shit.

Following her short dialogue to the camera, they were shown out on that sailboat as they just enjoyed the Sun, Surf, and Marine Life together. His staring at her was kinda obvious at Times, even when his shades were pulled down over his face so he wasn’t blinded. He just couldn’t help himself when it came to appreciating the gorgeous views he was afforded, especially when she went buck-wild and actually wore a bikini–or simply jumped into the Water buck-nekkid. Either way was definitely a good Time for him, the latter usually leading to even better ones since she didn’t normally do that when the kids were awake. It showed how she could be Calm and Serene when need be, but she could still get as wild and crazy as he could, maybe more so.

“Now, let’s welcome Blaze and get her take on the two months of Madness that led to this TV Gold!” Riki said, grinning for the camera as he clapped.

The bassist couldn’t help a grin of his own as his girlfriend appeared, gladly spreading his legs more when she made no move to take the chair set up next to him.

“Not gonna make use of the chair for a bit of personal Space, huh?” he laughed as she settled so her hips were nestled between her man’s thighs.

“Why bother when Bobby’s lap’s the best seat in the house?” she countered with a grin of her own.

“Hey, that’s fair enough, as long as he’s cool with it,” the host said.

“Man, I wouldn’t have slouched down and spread my legs a bit more, if I wasn’t,” Bobby chuckled. “That was my Silent way of telling her she could, and she knows it.”

“All right, so your Time on _Goddess of Rock_ was pretty memorable, if only ’cuz ya refused to kiss him after each elimination till the last one,” Riki started.

“What can I say? I like my sexual acts, no matter how tame and chaste, to actually fuckin’ mean something to both parties involved,” the ginger told him with a shrug. “I knew the longer I made him wait for that, either the more desperate he’d be to get laid and hit the road, or the more he’d prove to me that he wanted more than my genitalia.”

“Clearly, even the most chaste kiss meant something to both of ya,” he said. “I doubt you’d still be together, if it didn’t.”

“Oh, I’d have most certainly left his ass there in Cabo without a second Thought, if that was the case,” Blaze told him. “And I certainly wouldn’t have uprooted my own family afterward to move in with him.”

“So, you’re living together now?” the host asked.

“Took us a few months to get the kids used to the idea of us being together and all three of them moved in,” Bobby chuckled. “I mean, they needed to get along as well as we do, and it wasn’t easy moving three people from one State to another.”

The entire crowd, even the other nineteen girls, couldn’t help laughing at his words, but he certainly had a point with them. Once everybody Calmed down, that was when Riki asked her about her own kids to satisfy everyone’s Curiosity since somebody was bound to. All she’d say on the matter was that she’d a set of twins who were now six, and that like her man, she wasn’t going any further outta concern for their safety and well-being.

At that point, the infamous final elimination was replayed for anyone who hadn’t seen it, and still the bassist wondered just what Raven’d said to her sister before she walked off that Night. Laughing, the brunette woman finally translated her phrase, causing the crowd to burst into roaring laughter of their own once again. Her big sister blushed furiously as she snarked back at her in Gaelic, making her laugh so hard that Lacey’d to reach out and keep her from falling outta her chair. Whatever she’d just said musta been pretty funny–at least, to her lil sister–but now wasn’t the Time or place to ask for a translation.

Next came the recap of his short conversation with Blaze before finally asking her if she’d stay in his Life and be his Goddess of Rock. Even now, as they watched the kiss they’d closed out that scene with, he couldn’t help but smile stupidly at what she’d said to him right after breaking that kiss. He refused to translate it when the host asked, saying that it’d been meant for his ears, alone then as much as it still was now. That prompted her into repeating the phrase, which just made his smile broaden even more before he let her give him a sound kiss.

Even with the cameras still rolling for the reunion episode, this was the moment he’d been both anticipating and dreading at the same Time. No one–not even Bret–knew what he was about to do, but that was how he’d planned it all along ever since making a special trip one Day. Sure, there coulda been better Times and places to do this, but he couldn’t really think of anything more special than on national TV. As he gently prodded her into getting up and standing before him, Bobby took a deep breath and just hoped she wouldn’t humiliate him instead. He didn’t think she would, ’cuz his girlfriend just didn’t seem to be that type, but sometimes, he just couldn’t be sure due to her Mysterious bent.

“Bobby?” she asked, sounding confused.

“I’ve something special for ya today, sweetheart,” the bassist answered, stomping down the nerves threatening to choke him.

Now even more confused, Blaze simply cocked a brow at him.

“Ya know I love ya more than I can ever put into words,” he told her as he rose from his seat. “Ya know just how long I’ve loved ya so much, too.”

The ginger simply nodded, not about to repeat what he’d told her after their post-final elimination romp.

“I’m not a believer in fixing what’s not broken–never have been, and never will be,” Bobby said. “So once again, I’m not trying to fix what’s not broken–I’m just trying to show how much ya really mean to me.”

Her eyes widened in shock as she suddenly figured out what he was doing.

Now on his knee before her, the bassist reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object. “Now I pose not one, but two questions–will ya make me the happiest man on the Planet and handfast with me, and if not, will ya at least take this ring as a physical reminder of my promise of Faith, Patience, and Love for the rest of my Earthly Life?”

“Like ya even needed to ask that second question, Bobby!” Blaze cried happily.

Relieved that she wasn’t gonna even halfway make a fool of him on national TV, he heaved a sigh of relief as he slipped the ring onto her finger and rose back to his feet. The ring was Intended to look like a blooming Lotus, denoting Brighid’s rule over Primarily Wells and Springs, but filled with Ruby to denote her being a Sun and Fire Goddess. Given that her middle name was that of the Celtic Goddess in question, he thought it fitting when he’d worked with a jeweler to custom design this ring months ago.

Breaking the kiss he’d leaned down to give her, the ginger gazed up at her now- _fiancé_ with tears in her eyes, but there was something more than just Love and Adoration there. If he wasn’t mistaken, it seemed like she’d something on her mind that she was about to tell him–and if not, she was deciding on exactly when to. As he tried to read her Thoughts in her eyes, the crowd gathered in various places watched in anticipation of what she’d say.

“Considering what a leap of Faith ya just took, it’s Time I took one of my own,” she announced.

“And just what kinda leap of Faith could _you’ve_ to take?” Bobby asked curiously, cocking a brow down at her.

“Let’s just say we’re gonna be planning _more_ than a wedding, love,” his now- _fiancé_ told him.

It took a moment to click before his own eyes took their turn to widen in shock. “Seriously–you’re not shitting me, are ya?” the bassist asked.

“Nope, I’m not shitting ya,” Blaze answered with a shit-eating grin. “I’m really pregnant!”

“Sweet Gods alive, this Day just can’t get any better!” he laughed, sweeping her up to spin her around a couple Times.

The ginger once again cradled against his chest couldn’t help a squeal as he spun her in a slow Circle, obviously mindful of any Morn sickness she might be suffering. Once back on her feet moments later, she didn’t try to deny him another kiss, her arms wrapping around the back of his neck to hold him in place. When this Insanity’d first started last Autumn, neither’d expected to even come outta it with anyone to call a new friend. Now they’d found their forever-mates, and as if that wasn’t enough, were adding to an already-relatively big and well-blended family.

Nothing short of Death was ever gonna tear these two–the veteran rocker and his Goddess of Rock–apart, and they couldn’t wait to see what the Future now held for them.

**Author's Note:**

> This is one I finished more recently–as in, a couple months ago, more recently. Anyone who knows Poison's history up to this point'll know what Inspired this–I encourage those who don't to either enjoy the ride, or go look it up!  
> ~Angel


End file.
